The Strength of the Heart
by Ganzyyy
Summary: She never thought something so crazy could happen to her. Forced to live with her grandparents away from her friends and now she has to fight to protect the world. Will she be able to help her family and friends? not so great summary. Eventually Izzy/OC
1. Adventure Awaits

**Hello Everyone! I'm having difficulty with my other story and changing my character's personality. So... I decided to take a small break from it. This is the beginning of a story that I have been craving to write! Basically I do not own Digimon or any of its characters but I do own Haru Bianci :)**

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><p>"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." - Elizabeth Lawrence<p>

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><p>"Tai!" A girl with short red hair yelled.<p>

Tai looked at the girl and smiled. "Sora!" He yelled and passed the ball. It was a great pass and Sora passed it back to Tai and he scored easily. The group of friends congratulated each other. It wasn't an official game, just a bunch of kids playing with each other.

"Oi! Can I play?" A kid with a baseball cap on backwards asked up on a hill.

"Yeah! Come on down!" Tai said happily. When the kid reached him, he introduced himself. "My name's Taichi Kamiya, but you can call me Tai."

"I'm Sora Takenouchi." Sora said happily.

"My name is Haru Bianci." They started playing together and got along really well. "Tai!" Haru yelled and passed the ball passed the defensive player, but when Tai tried to pass it back, the defender tipped it and sent it flying. Sora couldn't get to the ball in time, but Haru could. Haru jumped up hit the ball with her head and scored a goal, but caused the hat to fall off.

Tai and Sora were shocked. Haru stood triumphant with hands on hips. "You're a girl!" Tai yelled.

"Huh?" Haru asked. Her short blonde hair was messy from the hat. "Of course I am…"

"That was amazing!" Sora yelled and hugged Haru. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I don't know…" Haru said embarrassed. She rubbed her neck embarrassed. "I just practice in my room all the time." They both smiled at her.

"You're always going to be on my team!" Tai exclaimed and picking her up since she was kind of short and light.

"Hey! Put me down!" Haru started panicking. "I don't like being high!"

"Then it's a good thing you're short." Tai said and Sora started laughing.

"That's not funny…" Haru complained. "Just because I'm short doesn't give you reason to make fun of me Taichi."

"You can call me Tai." Tai said annoyed placing her down. "Taichi is too long besides I like you." Tai patted her hair playfully and Haru smiled.

This all occurred when Tai and Sora were seven and Haru was six. The three became best friends, especially Tai and Haru. The two became inseparable since they were so much alike. Tai was also excited to learn that Haru was also in the same grade as him even though she was a year younger. Her parents had started her a year earlier.

Haru and Tai slept over each other's houses, played soccer and did homework together, and told each other everything. Putting the two of them together to come up with a plan could be disastrous especially when the two never really thought their actions through. They were also very mischievous when with each other. They would always plays jokes and pranks on people around them. A lot of time Sora was the one receiving their actions.

From always being around Tai, Haru quickly became an older sister figure for Kari. Unlike Tai, Haru was one who could tell what someone was feeling by looking at them. Even if they were trying to hide their true feelings, Haru could feel what they were feeling, sort of like Empath. Haru could always tell when Kari was falling into darkness.

"Kari…" The younger girl looked at the blonde in front of her. "You can tell me what's wrong." Haru had said one day when the two were waiting for Tai to come home.

"It's scary…" Kari said quietly finally showing the fear.

Haru hugged Kari tightly. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"But it's calling to me… Something is calling to me." Kari said.

Haru pulled the girl away and smiled at her. "But I know your heart. It's light and good." Haru said softly.

"It's easier when you're around Haru-nii." Kari said looking into Haru's warm brown eyes. "You're heart is so strong. I want to be just like you."

Haru laughed. "Thanks, but you know if I'm not around when you need me, I want you to remember this: "The light is in the strength of your heart." Your heart is stronger than mine when it comes to this Kari. I can feel it. You have such goodness and light in you that I know you will be okay. You have people who care about you."

"Thank you Haru-nii."

Haru had become Kari's strength. Numerous times Haru had come to Kari's rescue when Kari thought she was losing the battle. Living across the street from Kari and Tai helped Haru be there all the time.

Kari wasn't the only one who loved to be around Haru. Sora also felt a pull toward the younger tomboy. Sora liked to think that Haru was like a younger version of herself. The two were best friends, but Sora couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of Haru. Haru just seemed to attract people to her with her bright eyes, smile, and attitude. It was like people couldn't stay away.

Tai may have felt this also, but he never noticed if he did. The two were so alike that it was quite creepy. They did everything together and finally when Tai was eleven he convinced his mom to let him go to summer camp, so obviously he and Haru went across the street to talk to her parents.

"Please Momma!" Haru begged.

"Please Mrs. Bianci!" Tai also begged. Both of them gave puppy dog faces which caused Haru's Mom to laugh at the two.

"I'm sorry you two, but I don't think it's a good idea. Haru's only ten years old."

"But Momma!" Haru cried. "I really want to go with Tai!"

"Haru…" Her mom sighed.

"Please Mrs. Bianci, Kari is going too!" Tai said hopefully.

She sighed again. "Fine, I'll talk with your father." She said to Haru. "But I'm not promising anything." Her mother walked away.

Tai and Haru looked at each other with bright smiles spreading across their faces. They yelled happily and hugged each other knowing that if they could get through to Haru's mom that her dad would easily agree. And it worked. Later that night, Haru's parents talked to her about being safe and all that good stuff that parents always talk about. They said as long as she behaved the next month, she would be allowed to go.

So it was set. Haru would be going to summer camp with Tai. Both were excited. The next month passed by quickly and Tai couldn't wait to leave. He and Haru were in his room talking about what might happen there. Kari wasn't going to be able to go since she had gotten extremely sick from when Tai and Haru took her out in the rain to play. The two felt terrible about it, but Kari told them to have fun no matter what.

The next day, Tai quickly put his bags in his mom's car and ran across the street to get Haru. He quickly ran up the stairs to her apartment door and knocked, but no one answered. He knocked again, this time louder, but still no one answered. He thought maybe Haru's parents decided to drive her there themselves so he went back to his house to finish getting ready to leave. However, when he arrived at camp he found that no one was there waiting for him. He found Sora, but it wasn't the same as having Haru always by his side. But little did he know that a whole new adventure was waiting for him.

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><p><strong>I know it is a little slow but I had to do something as a prequel to the rest of the story. I'm still working on the other chapters and I'm taking extra care to make sure that Haru does NOT turn into a Mary Sue but I think I'm pretty good with this story. :) I'll try to update as soon as possible!<strong>


	2. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

**I'm back once again! Sorry that it has been so long since I updated anything... I had finals and then everything was so hectic with Christmas! But now I finally have time to sit back and think about my stories! :) Gotta get something out before I get my wisdom teeth out on Monday. I'll be cranky as cranky can be when I can't eat the food I want... That's gonna be a scary thought! Haha well here is Chapter 2. This is another slow one. But the one after this I swear will be more interesting! :)**

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><p><em>In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.<em>

_- Robert Ingersoll_

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><p>The weather for a summer night was much cooler than it should have been. The slight breeze that travelled through the night sent shivers down anyone wearing a light jacket. It was cold and foreboding. With the new moon, the night felt almost lifeless… heartless…<p>

Her hand was tightening around the handle of her front door. The cold air brushed past her into the dark, empty house. It sent her short blonde hair fluttering. Yet, even with the cold, she did not shiver. She knew the man in front of her was still talking, but her mind had simply refused to listen to the rest. She could only stare at him with a blank stare.

"Haru Bianci," the man said. He was wearing an officer's uniform. "We are going to need you to come with us." But she only stared.

"Come one sweetie," a woman with him said. She wore regular clothes, but she seemed kind enough. Her light brown hair and blue eyes made her seem safe. "Let's go get your things." She took Haru's hand and guided the lifeless girl back into the house. She seemed to pity the girl. They found Haru's room and packed two bags full of clothes. "We'll come back later to gather the rest of your things." The woman said to Haru, but again Haru didn't answer.

The woman led the girl out of her apartment to the elevator. They rode the elevator down to the street and walked to a gray colored car. The woman opened the door to the backseat and Haru stepped into the car. The woman gave her a small smile as she closed the door. She turned to the man as she began to load Haru's bags into the trunk.

"I'll take care of the rest?" She had said it with a slight question.

The officer nodded. "I think that would be for the best." He said solemnly. "I have to write up the report. I also think she'd be more comfortable with you."

The woman looked in the backseat at the young girl. "She's about the same age as my oldest son." She whispered. "I can only imagine…"

"Thank you for doing this Natsuko. Hiroko had said you were good with children. We were lucky that you were eating nearby." He said. Natsuko nodded sadly and got into the car and began to drive. She had tried to make conversation with the girl, but nothing helped the tense atmosphere that had settled in the car.

Haru heard her talking, but it was like the woman was speaking another language. The car had been moving for a long time, but Haru couldn't tell how long. Everything was moving in slow motion. It was extremely dark outside. They had left the city that she loved. They left the place where her family and friends were. She looked up and the moonless night made it possible to see the stars.

"_Do you like the stars Haru?"_

"_Yes! They are so pretty Poppa!"_

"_Do you want to know what my father used to tell me?" Haru nodded her head rigorously. "Well, my father used to tell me that all of those stars are powerful beings."_

"_Powerful beings?"_

"_Yes." Her father said. "They watch over us."_

"_Really?" Haru said amazed._

_Her father chuckled. "Yes. The sun is the most powerful because he shines his love down on the people every day. Then the moon is the second strongest. He tries his hardest to protect the people from the darkness that lurks in the night, but it is a constant battle. He cannot always protect the people and therefore he tends to vanish from the sky on nights to go off and fight. But the stars are the great people of the past. They do not have the power to fight, but they are always there to lend their light to those hurting."_

"_Will the stars protect me?"_

"_Yes. They will always be there to protect you."_

Haru continued to look at the sky. 'Are you up there Momma? Poppa?' She wondered. 'Will you protect me?'

The car finally rolled to a stop. It broke Haru's inner thoughts and she became alert to everything around her. She looked out the window to see they had parked in front of a vaguely familiar house. The driver's door opened and the woman from before got out and walked around to let Haru out of the car. She opened the door and motioned Haru to get out. "Do you know where you are?" She asked when Haru got out and looked at the house.

She knew where she was now. The small home surrounded by flowers and trees. The soft scent of the flowers flew through the air and filled her nose. Haru nodded to the woman slowly.

"Everything is going to be okay." She said as she walked to the back of the car and took out Haru's bags. Haru's heart clenched. 'Nothing is going to be okay.' She thought to herself.

Natsuko watched the girl as she just stared at the house in front of her. She was sure that Haru knew it was her grandparents' home, but she didn't show one once of emotion. 'The girl must still be in shock.' She thought to herself. Natsuko lifted one bag to her shoulder and then lifted the other bag in her right hand. "Come on sweetie. Let's go in." She said and held out her left hand for Haru to take.

Haru looked at the woman's hand and slowly lifted her own to take it. Natsuko relaxed slightly. That was the first voluntary movement the girl made besides getting out of the car. She also took that action as a symbol that the girl trusted her.

The two walked hand in hand up to the house. Natsuko realized that Haru seemed to be in a daze. She hoped that her grandparents were faring better than the girl so that she could have some emotional support.

Natsuko rang the door bell. She could hear the steps coming to the door. The fumbling of lock could be heard until it clicked and the door flew open. The elderly couple standing before Natsuko seemed so distressed. They had tearstained cheeks and red eyes, but they looked relieved to see Haru standing there.

"Oh Haru!" The grandmother shouted as fresh new tears came to her eyes. "I'm happy you are alright." The woman practically fell to her knees and hugged Haru tightly. Haru instantly felt the familiar touch and smell of her grandmother and came back to reality.

Natsuko watched as Haru's eyes returned from the dazed state at her grandmother's touch. Haru reached up and hugged her grandmother back with equal force. Her eyes seemed full of emotion in that one instant. Tears began to trickle down her face and soon her face showed the sadness and pain that she was feeling. She began to sob into her grandmother's shoulder as her grandmother held her lovingly.

Natsuko felt for the young girl. "Thank you." Haru's grandfather said with emotion. "Thank you for bringing our granddaughter to us."

"No problem." Natsuko replied. "I was just happy to help."

Haru's grandmother ushered her granddaughter inside the house. "Please come in." The grandfather offered. She wasn't sure if she should, but she wanted to make sure that Haru would be okay. She walked in and Haru's grandfather took the bags from Natsuko and offered for her to sit down. She did and he quickly walked to the back of the house where his wife had taken Haru.

Natsuko looked around the small house. She noticed a picture of 3 beautiful young women. They all held a great resemblance to Haru's grandmother so she assumed that one of them was Haru's mother. There were also pictures of Haru with a bunch of other children. She looked so different with her freckled skin and blonde hair. Natsuko assumed the other children were her cousins since she could see a slight resemblance between them.

Natsuko then took in the entire room. It had a very warm feeling and it made her feel comfortable. Of course it smelled like a typical grandparents' house, but that's what made it so comforting to be in. Natsuko knew that Haru's grandparents would take good care of her just from seeing all the pictures of Haru and other relatives. They obviously really loved the girl and Natsuko knew she didn't have to worry about the girl not getting the psychological support that she would need.

"I'm sorry for the wait." Haru's grandfather said.

"Please, call me Natsuko." She told him.

He nodded. "Then please call me Yuichi." He said. "My wife's name is Sakura. We can't thank you enough for bringing her here so late in the night."

Natsuko smiled slightly at him. "I have a son about her age." She replied. "I would want someone to do the same thing for him as well."

"Yes…" Yuichi said slowly.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Sakura asked as she walked into the room.

"No thank you." Natsuko replied. "I just want to make sure Haru would be okay."

Sakura nodded. "She's asleep for now. It will be a long process… but I believe that she will be okay."

"I'm glad." Natsuko said and stood up. "I should be getting home to my own son."

"Of course." Yuichi answered. The three of them walked back outside. They said their goodbyes and Natsuko began her drive back to the city.

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><p><strong>Well that is the end of Chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get another chapter out either tonight (if I'm lucky) or by tomorrow! Wish me luck :)<strong>


	3. You Have Been Chosen

**Helloooo agaiiinnnn! I have completed another chapter! You shall see just how Haru is dealing with what has happened with her parents death (I hope you all realized what I was trying to say... if not... I may have just ruined it for you... sorry...) Anyway! I want to thank you all for putting up with my slow writing by giving you another chapter tonight! Luck was on my side and I was on a roll so please enjoy this chapter! :)**

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><p>In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day.<p>

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

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><p>Haru stared out the window at the moonless night sky. The stars stared down at her swollen, tired eyes. Her entire body felt weak and numb, but her eyes refused to shut and her body refused to rest.<p>

"You always said that time heals all wounds regardless of what you feel right now." Haru whispered. "But Poppa… how long does it take to heal the wounds of a heart?" She asked the stars, but no matter how long she waited, she wasn't going to receive an answer.

Haru sighed and sat on the bed. She had pretended she had fallen asleep so that her grandmother would leave her. She just wanted to think about what had happened. After everything that had happened, she was still trying to let it soak in. Her parents were gone. That was the only thing she really knew for sure.

Her heart hurt more than anything she ever felt. Nothing she thought or did could lessen the pain that she felt. Her mind began to darken as her efforts to feel better failed time and time again. Then her heart followed her mind.

Haru lied back on her bed. Her eyes were becoming distant and she could feel the darkness creeping in on her. Is this what the darkness feels like? She wondered as she stared at the wall.

Suddenly light filled her room. She turned her head to the other side of the room. It was the computer screen. Haru sat up slowly and made her way to the computer. A bright white light made it difficult to see anything.

Haru lifted her hand up to touch the screen she felt something pull her toward the computer. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt wind fly around her body. There was a feeling that she was falling, but suddenly she felt ground beneath her feet. She slowly opened her eyes to see a bright blue sky. Beneath her feet grass moved in the wind.

"Where… am I?" Haru asked still in her dazed state.

"Welcome, Haru Bianci." A voice echoed around her. The voice was male, but she couldn't find a body to match the voice to. "You have been chosen."

"Chosen…?" She questioned the air. The ground below her feet flowed and a small orb floated up in front of her face. Haru reached out grabbed the orb with both her hands. She brought her hands down and opened them to reveal a small white device with gold buttons.

"This digital device is called a Digivice."

"Digivice…?" Haru questioned as she observed the small device.

"Do not lose it. It will be essential for the upcoming battles." The voice explained. "Your partner will come to you soon, but for now you must leave."

Before Haru could comprehend what was going on, the place around her turned bright once again. She closed her eyes and she felt the air going by her again. She was being pulled away once again, but this time her eyes stayed closed as she landed back on her bed with her hand clutching the Digivice.

The computer glowed once again in the dark. An egg appeared from the screen and sat quietly on the computer chair. After a few minutes it hatched. A white furry creature popped up. It had large black eyes, a small mouth, and slightly long white ears with the tips brown. It glowed a bright light and when the light faded it was a completely different creature. This time the fur was tan. It had four legs. It had two long ears that seemed to have feathers attached to it that made it seem like they were wings. Its eyes were large and blue, and it had a small red marking above the eye. It also had a tail where the tan fur changed to white and purple jagged stripes.

It looked around the room and saw Haru sleeping on the bed. It quickly jumped off the chair and moved over to her bed. It jumped up on the bed next to her and nudged her shoulder. Haru stirred and looked over at the creature, but drifted back asleep. Being close to Haru made the creature glow again. This time he was much bigger.

His fur was white with golden markings on his back. He had a large golden collar around his neck. He had two front legs and two back legs, and each foot had red claws. It had a long tail and attached to the end was a small golden bullet. He had white ears with the tips black. On his left ear, he had a red earring. His eyes were gold with a thick black outline.

"Haru…" He whispered and nudged her again. He was worried about the way her eyes looked at him before. "Please Haru…" He whispered and pushed against her shoulders.

Haru's distant eyes opened again. This time the creature could clearly see how in danger she was actually in. "Who… are you?" She whispered.

"My name is Kudamon." The creature responded.

Haru's eyes never changed. "What… are you?"

"I am a Digital Monster or Digimon." He said. "I am your partner."

"Oh… so you… are my partner…" She whispered.

Suddenly a darkness seemed to spread across her body. "Haru!" Kudamon panicked. "Haru, look at me!"

Haru looked up at him and smiled though it never reached her eyes. "Kudamon… I can hear… the ocean…" She whispered.

"Haru, don't listen to it." Kudamon commanded. "Listen to my voice instead. Don't give in to the sound." He begged, but he could tell that she was slipping into the darkness. He quickly jumped off the bed and toward the computer screen. The screen glowed white, but once Kudamon completely entered the screen, it went black once again.

Haru's eyes drifted closed as she went to sleep again. It was peaceful and quiet. It was what she had been waiting for since she got to her grandparent's house. The sound of the waves was so intoxicating, and it was getting harder and harder to resist its haunting call.

Not long after the computer had turned off, it came back to life. The screen glowed extra bright as Kudamon reemerged. He fell off the computer desk, but quickly reorganized himself. He looked up to see Haru fading in to darkness. "Haru!" He called as he jumped on the bed.

Kudamon pulled out a small white square and placed it on her chest. There was a white symbol on the square. It consisted of three different swirls, but they all overlapped at the center making it difficult to distinguish which line came from each swirl.

When the square touched her chest, it glowed white and engulfed the entire room. Haru began to float off the bed slightly and the square floated above her. A ball of light engulfed the square and the symbol appeared in light above it. The symbol shrunk in size and descended on Haru's body and entered her chest. After the light died down, Haru fell softly to the bed with the square falling slightly beside her.

Kudamon sighed in content as the darkness fled from Haru's body. He looked at her and noticed that the symbol was now tattooed on her chest where the object had been placed. "You are a lucky person Haru. Your crest may have just saved your life." Kudamon whispered.

He took the object now know as a crest and placed it in its tag which looked more like a necklace. He placed it over her head so it rested above her heart. Then he somehow managed to pull the covers of the bed over her sleeping form. "Goodnight, Chosen Child of Strength." He said as he curled up next to her under the covers.

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><p><strong>Well now you know some more! I hope this made up slightly for the slow beginning. And for some reason when ever I hear Kudamon's voice in the back of my head it sounds like Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus... I have no idea why but it makes me smile! :) Any way I hope you enjoyed. I'm still trying to figure if I'm going to send her to the Digital World now or later. It might be a couple of chapters, but maybe not! I shall figure it out!<strong>


	4. Chosen Child of Strength

Hello everyone! Today I procrastinated and wrote this. I wanted to get this out this weekend, but I decided to do it now. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter I think I may bring back the whole digidestined gang! :) So be prepared!

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><p>Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.<p>

Helen Keller

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><p>The sounds of the waves were beginning to fade away. The darkness that had surrounded Haru had also begun to fade. What was once before black was now becoming white. She was frightened at first, but as it got brighter, it became warmer. She could honestly feel the warmth spreading across her body. It was so comforting. It felt safe. For the first time since Haru ended up at her grandmother's house, she honestly felt loved.<p>

Kudamon watched as Haru slept peacefully though the night. He stayed close to her to make sure the darkness would no longer touch her, but it soon became apparent that the crest had truly pushed the darkness away. Whether it was gone for good or just being pushed out, Kudamon could not tell but he was pleased that Haru seemed happy as she slept. Following her, he too closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Night became day and as the sun began to shine through the window, Haru stirred slightly. Her eyebrows furrowed as her peace was being disturbed. Her eyes opened slightly and shut quickly at the light coming from the window. She groaned slightly as she sat up and rubbed her eyes with her hands trying to get used to the bright light.

"Good morning." Haru looked up at the voice, but she noticed the door was still closed. She looked around confused. Had she simply imagined the voice? "Did you sleep well?"

This time Haru noticed that the voice was coming from by her side. She looked down into the golden eyes of a strange white creature. "Ah!" She yelled and fell off the bed.

"Haru?" The door to her room opened and her grandmother walked in with a worried face. "Are you okay?" She asked in a panic.

Haru rubbed her head. "I'm fine…" She said looking for the white creature but couldn't find it. "I just fell off the bed when I woke up."

"Okay." Her grandmother smiled. "Why don't you get dressed and come eat some breakfast?" Haru nodded and her grandmother closed the door when she left.

Haru looked down to notice a small white device by her hand. "This is…?" She began to think. She recognized it, but she thought that everything that had happened last night was a dream…

"That is a digivice." The white creature said poking his head out from underneath her bed. He saw that Haru was about to scream so he jumped up and covered her mouth. Her eyes looked at him terrified. "My name is Kudamon. I am your Digimon partner." He explained. Kudamon watched as Haru's eyes shifted from terrified to confusion. He moved back to the floor when he thought she would no longer scream in fear.

"So… does that mean…" She began but couldn't find the words. Kudamon waited for her to figure out what she wanted to say. "I went… into… the computer screen…?" She barely got out. Kudamon nodded. "And then… I got this digivice?" Again he nodded. "So that wasn't… a dream…?"

Kudamon shook his head. "It was not a dream. Haru Bianci, you are the Chosen Child of Strength." He said. "I am your partner."

"Does that mean we will have to fight…?" She asked. "I vaguely remember someone saying that there were battles to be fought…"

"That is correct." He said. "My world has been in danger from darkness for quite some time now."

"Where is your world?" Haru asked.

"It is called the Digital World or Digiworld for short. You went there last night."

"It was so pretty…" Haru said remember the blue sky above her head and the grass beneath her feet. "Something that beautiful is in danger?"

Kudamon nodded. "We should go there now." He said. "You should change." He said as he walked over to the computer.

Haru stood up and walked over to her bags. She quickly changed out of her clothes. She pulled on a pair of camouflage cargo pants that stopped at her calves. She went to put on her tan long sleeve shirt but paused as she saw a strange marking in the middle of her chest. It was a bit larger than her thumb. It looked like three swirls that merged at a center. Then she noticed the necklace hanging from her neck. The gold colored tag held the same looking symbol was inside of it. She put on her tan long sleeve shirt and put a green short sleeved sweatshirt over that. As she was putting her green shoes on she turned to her partner. "Kudamon?" She asked and the white digimon looked at her. "What is this?" She held up the tag and crest.

"That is your crest. It is the Crest of Strength." He said. "It holds a lot of power that we can use when necessary."

"But why is it on my skin too?" She asked.

Kudamon shifted slightly. "Last night, you almost gave in to the darkness." He began. "I had to return to my world to find your crest. When I placed it on you, it glowed and the symbol appeared on your chest." He saw Haru's confused face. "I do not know why that happened though." He said looking down.

"It saved me… didn't it?" She asked. Kudamon nodded. "Then I guess I should be thanking you." She said rubbing his head which he seemed to enjoy. "Let's go to your world then." She said.

"Right." Kudamon turned to the computer. "It should open if you hold your digivice up to it." He said. Haru nodded and did what she was told, but nothing happened. The screen never turned white like it did the night before. "That is strange." Kudamon said. "Something must be happening on the other side to keep us out…"

"That isn't good is it?" She asked. He shook his head. "What do we do?" She asked.

"We can only wait until the portal opens again… but I do not know when that will be." He said looking down.

"Kudamon, are you hungry?" Haru asked after a short pause. "Why don't we go eat?"

Kudamon nodded, but didn't move to follow her. "I don't think it is a good idea for your grandparents to see me." He said. "I might scare them."

"I think you're right…" Haru said in thought. "I'll bring you some food back." He nodded and watched her leave. Haru walked out of her room and closed the door. She walked down the hallway and through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Her grandparents were sitting down and reading the newspaper. They looked up when they heard footsteps and smiled. "I meant to ask you, Haru, how do you feel this morning?" Her grandmother asked.

Haru didn't really know what to say. She remembers feeling absolutely terrified and sad last night, but when she woke up her heavy heart was completely gone. 'Was it because of the crest?' She questioned herself as she touched the clothes that hid the mark on her chest. She looked up at her grandmother. "I'm… okay…" She said slowly and gave an awkward smile.

Her grandfather smiled. "Good, then why don't you have something to eat? We made your favorite pancakes."

Haru smiled more easily. "Thank you." She said as her stomach growled slightly. She quickly sat down and ate her food. The silence that rested itself between the three was a bit unsettling. Haru could feel her grandparents studying her. She knew why. It was because she wasn't acting sad anymore. She was upset that her parents were gone, but for some reason her heart felt at peace now. 'It must be because of the crest.' She thought. 'Maybe I should act a bit more sad around my grandparents so they don't think I'm crazy… but I have Kudamon now and we have a job to do.' She ate her food quietly and slowly. When she finished, she asked if she could take the remainder of her food to her room, and her grandparents allowed it.

She walked back to her room with the pancakes on a dish. She wasn't sure how much Kudamon could actually eat. She opened and closed the door. "Kudamon?" She asked. The white digimon appeared from under the bed.

"Did you bring food?" He questioned eagerly. Haru laughed at how hungry he seemed.

Haru nodded and handed him the food. She watched as he devoured his food. After his eating began to slow, she asked, "Did the portal open?"

Kudamon paused in his eating. He shook his head. "Not yet… I'm not sure if it will open." His voice sounded worried. He continued to eat.

Haru looked at the dark computer screen. She wished it would open so she could help her partner. She felt a strong tie to him for some reason and she didn't want him to worry about his home. Hopefully, the portal would open and they would be able to enter the digital world.

* * *

><p><strong>The End! For this chapter at least. :) Here is another chapter. Now I have a question for everyone: Would you care if Haru did not go to the Digital World? Now I know what you are thinking… You are probably thinking, "Ganzyyy you are crazy to think that we wouldn't mind her not going. What's the point of her having a partner?" Well now I will tell you this. I just thought of something interesting to do :) and I hope you will wait for me to update so that I can show you what the idea is! But I want to know your ideas on her not going to the digital world Please!<strong>


	5. Author Note Please Read

Hello all. Now I know that you are all really really… okay extremely annoyed with my lack of updates. I'm annoyed at myself. But I want to give everyone a heads up. I have been writing many chapters in all of my stories. I was even doing well with fixing my Prince of Tennis story. Now that school has ended and everything has calmed down, I was going to start posting the chapters that I've done.

Now here is where you are really going to hate me.

I lost my jump drive with all of my writings on.

Everything.

Everything is gone. My ideas, thoughts, and chapters…

So now… I have to start over.

All over.

I'm going to cry.

Please, please don't hate me. I'm going to try to remember everything that I wrote, but it might take me a week or two. I am so sorry. I'll get everything to where it should be. Thank you for your patience.

Oh and anyone with a tumblr… if you're pissed and want to bitch at me. Or you just want to chat. Go to ganzyyy (dot) tumblr (dot) com

I'll be posting this on every story.


	6. There Is A Ninth

I run my fastest  
>But still be beat<br>I land on my head  
>When I should be on my feet.<br>I try to move forward  
>But I am stuck in rewind.<br>Why do I keep at it?  
>I won't be left behind.<p>

Excerpt from "I Won't Be Left Behind" by Sara Nachtman

* * *

><p>In the following days, Haru found a way to bring Kudamon around the house. She simply had to tell her grandparents it was a plush toy that her parents had given her for her birthday a few years ago. They simply nodded and ignored the strange looking doll their granddaughter was so hooked on.<p>

So Haru would carry Kudamon carefully around the house. She didn't want to hurt him. The two of them actually got along quite well. Haru always found herself laughing at something Kudamon did because he didn't completely understand her world.

Of course this brought the worried glances of her grandparents. They weren't sure if Haru was simply in denial about her parents' death. They were concerned that she was talking to an inanimate object. But she was smiling, and because of that... her grandparents again ignored the odd behavior that Haru was showing.

One day when Haru and Kudamon were watching television. They began to see strange things appear. "Kudamon..." Haru whispered. It was the news channel.

"Yes..." Kudamon answered just as quietly for he knew what she was going to ask. There were digimon invading the human world in Tokyo. "This is not right..." He commented.

"Should we go there?" Kudamon nodded as an answer as the news reporter continued to comment on strange appearances and occurrences around the world. "How...?"

Haru racked her brain for an excuse to go back to Tokyo. It had to be believable and it had to be good for Haru was sure her parents had seen something appear on the television or at least heard about the strange things happening there. But the only thing that she kept thinking about was Tai. How could she get back to Tai?

"Grandmom?" She asked a few days later.

Her grandmother smiled. "Yes sweetie, what's wrong?" Her voice held worry when she saw Haru's gloomy face.

She shook her head. "Nothing... but..." She paused. This was the only way to get back that she could think of. "My friend Tai... I'm worried about him..." Tears brimmed her eyes. "I never told him what happened and I miss him."

"Oh sweetie." Her grandmother stood up. "Come here." She hugged her granddaughter tightly. The tears weren't fake. She was afraid that Tai and Kari were stuck in that mess in Tokyo. And there was also a part of her that still mourned for her parents and the thought did bring a bit more to the tears. "Is there anything that I can do?"

Haru wiped her eyes. "I want to go see him." She mumbled. "I want to tell him."

"I don't know if that is a good idea." The thought of Tai being hurt or worse made Haru cry again. Her grandmother sighed. "Alright." She sighed again in defeat. She just wanted Haru to be happy. "I'll give you money and I'll have your grandfather explain everything to you."

Haru sniffled. "Thank you Grandmom..." She hugged her again as she tried to dry her tears. She walked back into her bedroom and hugged Kudamon until her fears stopped and she was able to sleep peacefully.

The next day Haru had listened to eveything that her grandfather told her, but she didn't tell him that she wasn't planning on taking the public transportation. On her way to the bus stop, Kudamon told her to stop in the field. She did as told, and listened to his explanation.

"If we take that thing, we won't make it in time." He said. "I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen and we need to move faster."

"Okay..." Haru nodded, but she was still confused. "What goes faster than a bus?"

"Me." Haru laughed. He was so tiny. "This is no joking matter." Haru silenced herself. "I can become stronger... bigger. It's called Digivolution." Haru's eyes widened as she took in this new information. "You are different though. My powers are connected directly to your emotions. You are called the Digidestined of Strength because of the strength in your heart."

"Strength in my heart." She unconsciously placed her hand to her heart, but then dropped it down to pull out her digivice. "So what do I have to do?"

Kudamon didn't say anthing at first and it was obvious that he was thinking hard about it. "Maybe... if you focus on your feelings... it will work."

Haru nodded and closed her eyes. She tried to focus on her emotions. She was happy, so she thought about being happy. "Anything?" She asked with her eyes still closed.

"No, keep trying, focus on your emotions."

_Emotions... _she thought. Maybe it wasn't enough to just think about one emotion. Fear, anger, sadness, joy, trust, surprise, friendship, love, shame, acceptance... all of these emotions swirled within her. But the strongest was love. She heard her digivice beeping and when she opened her eyes she was face to face with a completely different digimon. "You got big." She said with a silly smile.

"You did well." Reppamon said. "In this form I am Reppamon."

"It's nice to meet you, Reppamon."

He nodded his head and then knelt down. "Climb on my back." She followed his order. "Hold on tight. I'm going to run as fast as I can without hurting you. We need to be diligent."

"Then go as fast as you can." She confirmed holding tightly onto his fur, but her digivice beeped again. She looked down at it. "Reppamon..." He tilted his head to wait for her to continue. It looked like a message from someone... maybe it was from the same man she met before. Though she never actually saw him. It read "Can't beat VenomMyotismon without you." Haru paled. That sounded bad. "Run Reppamon." She commanded darkly and he easily obliged.

It took a long time, but the two finally arrived in Tokyo. But no matter where they went, there was no way to get inside. A large barrier of mist covered the surrounding area. "Reppamon! Isn't there a way in there?" Haru asked in a panicked voice. Her digivice had said that it was important for her to help the other digidestined. Without her, they wouldn't destroy VenomMyotismon completely. But now her way was blocked by a fog that she and her digimon Reppamon couldn't push their way through.

"There's no way to get through…" Reppamon growled in frustration. He tried going through, but he couldn't see anything and it was too dangerous to go in there with Haru on his back. He didn't know if there were any evil digimon lurking in the fog and he didn't want to put his partner in unnecessary danger.

"But… they won't be able to do it without our crest…" She murmured placing her hand to her chest where the crest hung.

"They are strong." Reppamon said. "They will find a way."

"Ugh… I feel so useless!" Haru yelled out in frustration. She jumped off of Reppamon and began to pace. "There has got to be something that we can do…" She pondered.

Reppamon sat down beside her and watched her pace. He couldn't think of anything that could pierce through the thickness of this fog. "Ah! I can't think of anything!" She yelled and sat on the grass.

Reppamon looked up at the fog. What could he possibly do to help this situation? He looked down at Haru again. He didn't like seeing her so angry and upset like that. Then something dawned on him. "Haru?" He asked and she looked up at him. "What about your crest?" He asked.

Haru gave him a questioning look. "What about it?"

"If you make it glow, its power may be able to pierce through the fog."

Haru's face seemed to glow in excitement. "You think?" Reppamon nodded. "Okay, let's try." Reppamon knelt down beside her and Haru climbed her way back onto his back. "Ready?"

Reppamon nodded. "Of course."

"Then let's go!" She yelled. She pulled off the crest and raised it up. It glowed a beautiful white light and pierced through the fog. "It worked!" She said happily. "Let's go Reppamon!"

Reppamon nodded. "Cover your face." He commanded. Haru quickly pulled her hood over her head. It covered most of her face except her eyes. Then she pulled the goggles Tai had given her for her birthday a few years ago over her eyes. As soon as she was ready, Reppamon took off in a sprint. He ran as fast as could without the winds damaging Haru's body.

"Hurry Reppamon!"

"I understand." He said and increased his speed slightly. They finally reached the other side through the fog, but shortly after the fog vanished.

"Reppamon…" Haru said worriedly. Reppamon slowed down to a walk. "Do you think they won?"

"I'm not sure."

Haru felt Reppamon tense underneath her. "What's wrong Reppamon…?" She asked him. He was looking at the sky. Haru followed his gaze and fear rippled through her. "What… What is that?" Her voice faltered slightly.

"Something is wrong…" Reppamon said in thought. "Something is terribly wrong in the digital world."

"Is that where your home is?"

"Yes." He said. "We must hurry. Hold on Haru."

"Yes." She said. At the word Reppamon went back into a sprint. "Do you know where you are going?" She asked him, but he didn't answer. "Reppamon?"

"Sh…" He whispered. "I'm concentrating on the other digimon that I can feel."

"You can do that?" Her voice was full of surprise.

"I can."

"Wow." She said. "Sweet. Let's go then." She said with a smile on her face. Suddenly they saw rainbow colored light come down from the sky. "Reppamon!" Haru said as she began to panic.

Reppamon increased his speed, but they weren't going to make it in time. "No!" She yelled. They could see the rainbow colored light and the other digidestined within it. They started to rise into the sky. Haru stared in horror, but then she saw the familiar messy brown hair of her best friend. "TAI!" She yelled as loud as she could. People turned to look at her as Reppamon ran passed them at high speeds.

Tai looked down at his best friend. "Haru?" He asked himself. Then he noticed she had a digimon. "HARU!" He yelled surprised. "Hurry!"

"Reppamon!" Haru begged. The digimon nodded and increased his speed yet again. Haru was barely hanging on. Reppamon launched himself into the air, but used too much energy and reverted back to Kudamon. They continued to fly into the sky. Haru held on tightly to Kudamon. "Tai!" She yelled.

"Haru grab my hand!" Tai yelled. They reached out for each other. But just as their fingers were about to touch, Haru began to fall back down. Haru's eyes widened in fear as she looked at a desperate Tai… He tried to reach her again, but he couldn't move out of the light. "Haru! No!" He yelled.

Haru smiled sadly at him she began to fall back toward the ground. She held onto Kudamon tightly. She would not let anything happen to him. She felt the wind flying passed her as she descended toward the ground. She closed her eyes and awaited the hard impact, but instead she felt something warm encase her. Her energy seemed to dissipate as she groaned and fell into sleep.

Tai watched helplessly as Haru stayed just out of reach. He could hear Kairi and Sora cry out for him to reach her, but all he could focus on was Haru. With fearful eyes, Haru looked into his eye when she realized she wasn't going to make it. She smiled at him sadly and brought her hand back to hug her digimon close to her body as she began to make her descent.

"Tai do something!" Sora cried out. Mimi had looked away in fear.

"What do you want me to do?" Tai yelled. He was trying to keep his voice steady. "We can't go back!"

"Tai…" Kairi looked terrified. He didn't want to look at her.

"Look!" Izzy yelled. Below they could see a white light encircle Haru and gently lower her to the ground. They all held their breath as they waited to see if she was going to make it.

Tai sighed in relief as he saw her safely reach the bottom. "Thank goodness…" He whispered. "If she didn't make it…" No, he didn't want to think about that. She was safe now and that was all that mattered.

"Tai, who was that?" Matt asked his friend.

"Her name is Haru." Tai explained. "She's friends with Sora, Kairi, and me, but I never knew that she had a digimon."

"I wonder if she will be able to get to the digital world now." Izzy wondered out loud. Everyone was curious. They could always use some extra help.

"I thought there were only eight of us…" Mimi said in thought.

"What happens now that there is one more?" Joe wondered.

"I don't know..." He whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey Guys! To the people who still follow this story. I want to give you a big THANK YOU. I enjoy watching Digimon and I love its characters. I also love my OC Haru. She's a bit of an odd one. <strong>


	7. Enter the Chosen Child of Strength

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...  
>we must do that which we think we cannot.<p>

- Eleanor Roosevelt

* * *

><p>When Haru opened her eyes, she was surrounded by parents and Joe's brother who was checking her vitals. She blinked and sat up causing Kudamon who was resting on her chest to fall to her lap. She noticed Tai's parents first and then Sora's mother. Kudamon slowly woke up himself and crawled up to her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked her. She nodded holding her aching head.<p>

"Yeah... I'm fine." She looked up at everyone's worried eyes. She smiled at them. "I'm fine."

Jim nodded after looking over her. "Nothing seems to be off. She's okay." The parents relaxed at the news. Jim looked at Haru and her digimon. She was like his brother. "Shouldn't you have been with the others?" He asked. Where was she when the fighting was taking place?

She nodded looking down. "Yeah... I wasn't in town..." She explained. "When I noticed what was happening, Kudamon and I tried to get here but... the fog was too thick to get through. I guess I was too late..."

Jim sighed. "You don't have any way to get to wherever they went..." He stated in understanding with a nod of his head.

Haru let out a shaky sigh. "No..."

Matt's father, Mr. Ishisda, thought of an idea. "The kids..." He began. "They held up these devices that brought about that rainbow light. Why don't you try?"

Haru glanced at Kudamon who nodded. "It's worth a shot." He explained.

Haru nodded and got back on her feet. She held her digivice out in front of her while it pointed to the sky. She felt for the energy within her and her body glowed white, but it did not reach out to the sky above. It stayed around her and Kudamon. Haru sighed. "Nothing..." She mumbled.

Mrs. Izumi walked forward when the white light died down. "My son did something to his computer that protected us. Maybe you could use it somehow?" She offered to the sad girl.

Haru looked up at her and gave a small smile. Kudamon rubbed against her cheek. "We might as well." He said and Haru nodded.

"Okay." She looked at Kudamon. "Kudamon..." He nodded and digivolved to Reppamon. Haru climbed on his back and held her hand out to the woman. "This is the fastest way to get there." She explained. The woman nodded and climbed up also. "Hold on to his fur." Haru explained as she leaned forward. "Go Reppamon." She said seriously and they took off.

Haru placed her digivice next to the computer. Kudamon was still resting on her shoulders. The woman stood behind her cautiously. "Okay Kudamon," she began. "Now what do I do?"

Kudamon jumped down onto Haru's lap. He leaned up on the desk and began typing on the keyboard. "Just give me a few minutes…" He whispered as he typed away at quick speeds.

Haru could hear Mrs. Izumi gasp in amazement. Haru just smiled. "I didn't know you were good with computers…"

"Yes…" He said. "How do you think I found your crest?" He questioned.

Haru had never thought about it. "I figured you had a way to just get it since you were my partner." She said thinking about it. "So what are you doing?"

"I am trying to connect us to the digital world." He continued to type until he suddenly hit the enter button. "There, we are ready." He turned to look at Haru. "Take your digivice. We are going to the digital world."

Haru nodded and picked up her device. At her touch the device reacted. She held it up to the screen and it glowed white. "Sweet!" She said happily. Haru turned to Mrs. Izumi. "Thank you for everything, but I have to go now."

"Please be careful sweetie." Mrs. Izumi said.

"I will." Haru turned to Kudamon. "Let's go Kudamon." Kudamon jumped onto her shoulder and the two were taken to the digital world. Mrs. Izumi was left standing in awe.

Haru opened her eyes to not recognize anything around her. She was in a beautiful paradise looking area with tropical looking trees and plants. She sat up and looked around. "Kudamon?" She asked confused.

"Over here." He said as he stood on his feet and walked over to Haru.

"Is this the digital world?" She asked him as Kudamon checked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "It's so different."

Kudamon nodded. "Yes." He said simply, but when he looked up he had a grave face on. "However, since the last time I was here, it has changed very much."

"But it wasn't that long ago that you came here to find my crest." Haru said confused.

He again nodded. "Yes, however, one second in your world is many days here in the digital world." He said looking at the spiral mountain protruding above them. "And things do not look good. It's too dark here and I feel a great evil."

Haru's excited face fell. "That's right…" She said in thought. "We were told we needed to help the others. We should find them." Haru stood on uneasy legs. The trip had been a little difficult for her. Suddenly a ball of pink with white wings flew past them.

"I must hurry!" He shouted.

"Who's that?" Haru wondered aloud.

"Ah!" Kudamon looked surprised. "Piximon!" He yelled to the digimon.

Piximon paused slightly and his eyes widened at the small white ferret digimon. "Kudamon!" He said happily. "You have returned!" He then turned his attention to Haru standing next to him. "Then this must be the Chosen Child of Strength!"

Haru nodded. "My name is Haru. It's nice to meet you Piximon." She said.

Piximon nodded. "Yes. It is a pleasure, but we must make haste. The others are in trouble." He flew up to them and formed a barrier around them. "We must go help them!"

Haru nodded. "Right!"

The three of them flew out into a desert. After a long time of flying, Haru spotted a coliseum looking building. She thought it was odd for it to be in the middle of a desert, but she didn't question it. "Is that where we are going?"

"Yes, but there are four mega digimon there." Piximon stated.

"Four?!" Haru exclaimed in surprise. "Kudamon you should digivolve now." She said composing herself. "You'll need to help them."

Kudamon nodded. "Kudamon digivolve to Reppamon!" Reppamon appeared ready to fight.

Piximon looked at Reppamon. "Unfortunately you will need to digivolve again. You will need your Ultimate to remotely be able to help out."

"But we were never able to get that far." Haru said sadly. "I haven't had much experience in fighting."

"It is okay." Reppamon said.

Piximon looked at her when they were approaching. "Do not force yourself. We are only here to protect the others."

They floated above everyone. Haru could easily pick out Tai, Sora, and Kari. She just hoped that they weren't hurt in any way. She saw that they were all circled around a small mouse looking digimon. "That's Chuumon…" Reppamon said. Then suddenly the digimon dissolved into data and dispersed.

"Chuumon… is he?" Haru couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"He was deleted." Piximon stated sadly.

"Chuumon was a fool." The clown digimon said. "So now that he's out of the way, who would like to be the next one to make their grand exit?" He asked.

Haru could feel the anger course through her body. Reppamon began to glow with her energy.

"Piedmon, you're gonna be washed up when we're through with you!" Tai yelled at the mega digimon, known of Piedmon.

The four megas simply chuckled at his statement. "Be my guest." Piedmon said.

That was the last straw for Haru. She pulled her hood up and put her goggles on. Her body began to glow with Reppamon. "Let's go Piximon!" She yelled. "Reppamon!"

"Pit Bomb!" Piximon yelled and threw a bomb at them. It exploded in a sphere of light, temporarily blinding the four megas.

Haru jumped on Reppamon's back and the two jumped out of the barrier to attack. "Vacuum Kamaitachi!" Reppamon still glowing with power shook its tail, releasing a blade a wind that can't be seen by the human eye. It hit Piedmon and sent the mega back.

"What the!" The mega yelled angrily. How could he have been hit by an actual attack? Haru quickly had Reppamon jump back into the barrier.

While the four megas were preoccupied, Piximon brought the invisible barrier around the other digidestined children and began to fly away.

"Hey Piximon, perfect timing!" A little boy wearing a large green hat said happily.

"I missed ya!" Piximon said to the group. Haru noticed that he was relieved to see that the others were for the most part unharmed.

"Prodigious!" A boy with maroon hair said. "You cleverly used a barrier to avoid detection." Haru noted that he seemed very smart.

"I sure did." Piximon replied to the boy.

"Piximon, is that?" A boy with spiky blonde hair asked.

Haru was still facing away from them and had her hood up to hide her features. Piximon looked at Haru and back at the group. "The Chosen Child of Strength." Piximon introduced her.

Haru turned toward the group and removed her hood. She pulled her goggles down to show her whole face. "My name's Haru." She said even though they had seen her earlier, she was unsure if Tai had mentioned anything about her.

Tai smiled brightly and ran up to hug her. "I'm so glad you're okay." He said. He was worried about her from when they saw her fall to the ground. But he pulled away in confusion. "Hold on!" He said a little annoyed. It wasn't at Haru, but at the situation as a whole. "I thought there were only eight of us? Now that there are nine of us, why weren't we able to beat them?" He was clearly annoyed. "What's up Piximon?"

Haru's anger got the best of her. "What? Are you mad that I'm here with you?" She yelled. She felt hurt because it seemed like he didn't want her there.

"You should have been here in the beginning!" Tai yelled back. Everyone watched this turn of events slightly confused. Sora and Kari were worried. The other thought that they were friends and couldn't understand why they were arguing.

"So that is what this is about!"

"You were supposed to be at summer camp with the rest of us!"

"Well I'm sorry I couldn't go to summer camp!" She yelled.

Reppamon stood between the two friends. "Haru, that's enough. This is neither the time nor the place."

"Right…" Haru said embarrassed.

"Haru!" Kari hugged the girl tightly. "I'm glad you're okay."

Haru's features softened. "Yeah, sorry Kari. How have you been feeling?"

"I'm fine."

Piximon cleared his throat. "Now that you're done… The truth is being together is not enough. There's something else that you need to do to beat 'em." Piximon replied.

Sora was the next to become annoyed. "How are we going to find out if you won't help?" She asked.

"Yeah! Enough riddles!" A boy with blue hair said.

"This is something you will discover on your own." Piximon said. Suddenly something hit the barrier causing Piximon to flinch and the barrier to become visible to the megas. Everyone let out a small yell in shock.

"Ah ha!" MetalSeadramon exclaimed when he noticed the barrier. "Here you are!" He said while laughing and the four digimon began to close in on the barrier.

"Piximon!" Haru exclaimed. "We have to do something!" Reppamon nodded.

"Not we, I." He said. Haru looked confused. Piximon looked at everyone. "I'll try to stop them. Meanwhile make a run for it and climb to the top of Spiral Mountain. But you better move it." He stated.

"You can't stop them." Matt said. "They're all mega digimon!"

"I know I can't win, but I should be able to distract them long enough for you to get away." He said to the digidestined. _He doesn't expect to survive… _ Haru thought to herself.

"I'll stay with you!" Tai exclaimed.

"No way!" Piximon yelled. If he wasn't going to let Tai stay then he wasn't going to let Haru stay either. "Besides, we need you on Spiral Mountain. We're counting on you to beat 'em!"

Suddenly MetalSeadramon prepared for another attack. "River of Power!" He shouted and sent a blast at the barrier.

Piximon left the barrier in anger. Before he left, he turned to the digidestined. "Please go now." He said.

"No!" Haru yelled. "I won't let you fight by yourself. I can help! Reppamon and I are stronger than you think!"

Piximon shook his head no. "Haru, you are stronger than even you think, I know that. You hold a great power that is necessary to the others. You must stay with them." He said.

Haru was about to fight back but Reppamon placed a paw on her shoulder. "Listen to him, Haru. You are needed with the rest."

"Yeah! Just listen to the fairy!" Reppamon's tail said.

Piximon chose to ignore what the tail said about him being a fairy. "You have a very important task ahead of you. Once you succeed, no one will be able to stop you again. I know you will make me proud! HA!" He swung his staff to hit the barrier and sent it flying.

Haru fell to her knees in defeat and Reppamon nudged her face with his. "It'll be alright." He said.

"No." She said and she began to glow again. "We have to help him." She felt her determination growing.

Reppamon began to glow too. "He has already said we were needed with the others."

She stood and looked at Reppamon. "Reppamon, I do not care. I will not let him fight alone. Let's give him our strength."

He began to digivolve he tried to fight it but he couldn't. "Right." He said. The next thing he knew he was Chirinmon. "Let's go Haru." The ultimate said. Chirinmon could feel her power as she nodded and placed her hand on his side. They didn't need to be on the level of a mega to fight. "Then let us hurry."

Haru was about to climb on to Chirinmon's back, but Tai stopped her. "Haru you can't." He said simply.

"Don't Haru me Tai." Haru said annoyed. She tried to pull from his grasp but he refused to let go. "Tai, let go."

"No." Tai replied.

Before Haru could speak up, Sora spoke. "You can't go. It's too dangerous."

"Two megas couldn't beat just one of them." The blonde one said.

Chirinmon scoffed. "I may be an ultimate but I am on par with a mega. Besides I can't let them hurt my friend and I can't let them get away with hurting innocent Digimon."

Haru smiled. "Right." She said with a curt nod. She turned to Tai with a strong and confident smile upon her face. "Tai relax. When have I ever let you down?" She asked.

Tai kept his mouth shut in a tight line. He was still touchy when it came to the fact that she blew him off for summer camp. He looked down in thought. Haru saw his worry etched into his brow. She turned to him completely and took his hands in her own.

"Haru, we must hurry." Chirinmon whispered in her ear, but she ignored him.

"Tai." She said softly. He looked up at her. He felt a strange feeling coursing through his body. Haru seemed so confident. "I promise. After I help Piximon, I'll find you guys." She turned to everyone. "I'll be back. I wish we met on better circumstances. I hope to get to know all of you better."

"Haru, please be careful." Kari said.

Haru smiled brightly. "Don't worry, I have the power of strength on my side." She easily hoisted herself up onto Chirinmon's back. She fixed her goggles and hood and then grabbed on tightly to the dragon like scales that were on the back of his neck. "Let's go Chirinmon."

"Right." He said. He quickly jumped from the barrier and flew out into the air.

Tai watched as Haru flew in the direction of the Coliseum. His mind was torn into pieces. Should he really have let her go? "Tai…?"

He turned to the rest of the group and instantly saw worry etched into their faces. He smiled, but he wasn't sure if it was believable. "Don't worry." He said. "She'll come back. She always does…" He looked out toward the coliseum only to see it go up in a bright and powerful explosion.

"Haru…" Kari practically whimpered.

Tai put a hand on Kari's shoulder. "She's still alive."

"How do you know?" Sora asked.

"I can feel it." He said. "I can still feel her. She will come back."

Kari looked up at her brother in confusion, but then her eyes widened when she felt Haru's presence overtake her. It was even more powerful than usual. Kari smiled brightly. "You're right Tai. She will. I can feel her too."

Tai looked around at the others and noticed that the strong presence was being felt by everyone and thankfully it seemed to relax everyone ever so slightly. _Thanks Rue… _He thought. _Now get back to us soon._

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><p><strong>Hello All! Ganzyyy here with another chapter. I have fall break this week so I was able to update twice. I'll try for one more because once I get back to school, I won't be on for some time. I'd like to send a thank you to thunderyoshi for the review! No worries I'm definitely going to keep this story going! Also thank you to hector4349 for following and favoriting :) You guys are awesome!<strong>


	8. The Arrival of Another Mega

**Author's Note:**

**It has been too long since I have been on this website. I'm not gonna lie. Guys (and Gals) I got addicted RPing on Tumblr. I AM SO SORRY. BUT I found that Digimon is on Netflix. WHAAAAT. I know right. So I've committed myself to watching the episodes and I have finally decided which route I wish to take this story. WOO! For my fantastic followers who are still following this story: I want to thank you for your patience. I hope I didn't make you wait too long. Though I know I did. I made myself wait too long.**

**One more thing... I want to greet xTonyaJacex to the story. Haru and I are happy to have you here :) And I think we can all agree that this chapter was long overdue. So here is the next chapter of The Strength of the Heart. I hope it appeases you all from my lack of uploading.**

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><p><em>True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.<em>

_George Washington_

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><p>"Let's go Chirinmon."<p>

"Right." He said. He quickly jumped from the barrier and flew out into the air. His wings flapped and he began to move at an incredible pace. Haru was having a difficult time holding on.

"Hold on Haru…" Chirinmon could feel her having difficulty holding her own. "We're almost there." It didn't help that he was also faster now.

They were moving so quickly that she wasn't even able to reply. She simply gripped at his scales tighter and hoped that they would arrive at the coliseum soon. She needed to save Piximon. She had to. There was no other option in her mind. The emotions coursing through her body gave Chirinmon more strength.

They arrived at the coliseum and Haru's eyes fell upon the Digimon she was looking for. "Piximon!" She screamed at the sight of him. She ran to his side and gently picked him up. "Oh Piximon..." She whispered softly as he cradled him in her arms.

She could hear the four megas in front of her laugh. Chirinmon stood cautiously by her side, ready to fight at any given moment. But the megas just taunted her... laughed at her...

"Haru..." Piximon forced out. "Why have you come?"

"I couldn't let you fight alone." She answered. "But... it looks like I was too late."

"You should have stayed with the others." He whispered. "They will need you."

"I'll go back to them as soon as possible." She promised.

"I am glad." He answered as he closed his eyes. "Be strong Haru..."

Haru felt her eyes burn as Piximon's hands and feet began to dissolve into data. Every part of her body hurt with the feeling of losing a friend. But though she felt it throughout her body, it was like the feeling was growing as it moved in the direction of her very center: her heart.

The taunting of the megas continued as her feelings grew stronger. Her arms felt so light when Piximon was gone. And the power in her chest was so strong that she could barely breathe correctly.

"Enough, the three of you!" Piedmon yelled as he observed the girl in front of them. She was not one of the nine that he had seen the first time. The other megas became quiet at their leader's request. "Who do you think you are?" He questioned. "Two megas could not defeat me, and you... a little girl... with just an ultimate think you can best me?!"

Haru's body glowed white with her power and she glared at Piedmon, but she wasn't able to talk. She was still trying to figure out how to use this power within her. Instead, Chirinmon answered for her. "She is the Chosen Child of Strength." He declared, his voice full of pride.

The others laughed, but Piedmon stayed solemn. "And here I thought that child was but a myth." Piedmon had heard the stories that surrounded the Child of Strength, and he did not wish for her to find out her true powers. "You think you can take me on with just an ultimate?" He questioned again. He didn't like to feel mocked.

"I am much stronger than I look." He proclaimed as Haru started to transfer her energy to him. He felt his body glow and the power began to course through his veins.

Piedmon noticed that he was about to digivolve. "Stop him!" He commanded, but the other megas were not taking the situation as seriously, which gave Chirinmon enough time to digivolve. The surrounding area exploded with white light and energy as Haru's emotions caused Chirinmon to evolve to his mega form.

"Kentaurosmon!" He yelled once he finished changing. Haru was amazed at the change in her Digimon. This was his Mega form. He looked similar to the mythical creature that she had read about once. _Centaur..._ She thought in her mind. The only difference was that he had no humanlike features in his face, but more of a horse. He had six legs, and his whole body was covered in red armor that had light blue symbols drawn on it. In his right hand he carried a large shield, and in his left was a crossbow.

"Get them!" She yelled turning her attention back to her enemies.

"Inferno Frost!" He yelled as he aimed his crossbow at the megas and fired arrows of light at them. The collision caused a cloud of dust to kick up.

"River of Power!" MetalSeadramon fired a blast of energy from within the dust. Kentaurosmon managed to just block it with his sacred shield called Niflheimer. However the connection between the blast and his shield caused his front two legs to lift slightly off the ground putting him off balance. Haru had also been thrown off her feet a few feet by the intensity of the clash.

Before Kentaurosmon could right himself again, Machinedramon aimed his own attack. "Giga Cannon!" Energy shot from its two cannons and hit Kentaurosmon in the chest. It pushed him farther back making him fall onto his back with a loud thud that shook the ground under Haru's body.

"Kentaurosmon!" She yelled in fear for her companion.

Piedmon laughed. "Is this all the great Kentaurosmon is capable of?" Such stories surrounding the Holy Knight and here he was trying to stand again after two measly attacks.

"I'll take care of this!" Puppetmon declared as he readied his hammer. Kentaurosmon stood on his six legs ready to fight. "Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon cried as he launched a barrage of bullets at Kentaurosmon.

Again he brought up his shield and tried to block the attack, but he was only half successful. Because the attack was so wild, Kentaurosmon wasn't able to block every shot and many of the bullets collided with his lower body. The force caused the newly digivolved mega to fall to a knee.

"You can do it!" Haru yelled. Kentaurosmon looked to her, she had tears falling down her face, but her eyes still held that strong spirit that was in her heart. That spirit was the main reason for her being chosen as the Child of Strength and just the sight of it in her eyes sent power coursing through him once again. He nodded to her. "I believe in you." She smiled softly.

With her energy running through him, Kentaurosmon prepared for the next battle. "Right!" He yelled and he quickly aimed his crossbow again. This time for Piedmon. "Inferno Frost!" He fired the arrow.

Piedmon tried to dodge the quick attack, but was only partially successful as it grazed his right shoulder slightly. He clicked his tongue in distaste. "You want to fight? How about a little show instead?" The other three megas took this as a sign to back off. "Trump Sword!"

The four swords on his back released and flew toward Kentaurosmon. He blocked each one by using both his shield and crossbow. "Look out!" Haru yelled when she saw Piedmon advance. He grabbed two of the swords and went to slash at Kentaurosmon.

They met each blow equally, but just like what happened to Tai and Matt, Kentaurosmon was not yet strong enough to last in such a long battle. Where they were meeting equal, Piedmon gained the advantage. "Trump Sword." He said, his voice low and dark. The two swords he wasn't using appeared behind Kentaurosmon. "I'm bored of this game."

"Kentaurosmon!" Haru cried as the two swords struck him from behind.

"No!" Haru yelled as she felt her energy begin to drain along with her partner's. She watched as he reverted back to a weak Kudamon. She could tell that he could barely stay at the Rookie level. She held him close to her, hoping that some of her own energy would transfer to him once again. "I'm sorry Kudamon. I was wrong."

"It's okay." He tried to sound strong. "You did your best."

"But your best was not good enough." Piedmon spat at them. How dare this child cause him to doubt himself. How dare they think they can beat four different megas. "I should destroy you for your impotence!"

"Let's do it!" MetalSeadramon cheered. "The less DigiDestined the better!"

"But who will I play with then?" Puppetmon asked as he crossed his arms in a huff.

"No..." Piedmon smirked. "I won't kill you." He said.

Haru protectively held Kudamon to her chest. She would not let her Digimon be hurt anymore. It was her turn to protect him. But at the same time, she refused to look weak in front of this evil monster. "It doesn't matter what you do to me!" She yelled. Kudamon tried to make her stop, but her anger would not be halted. "The others will defeat you! And no matter where I am or what becomes of me, I will find a way to help them!"

Piedmon laughed. "Let's see you try then." Haru was confused as he threw a white cloth over both her and Kudamon. Her body felt strange as what felt like electricity went through her body. The next thing she knew, she couldn't move, and she was small. "It would be a waste to kill such an interesting character." He eyed her as she hung from a keychain that fit in the palm of his palm. Haru could feel Kudamon's energy next to her. He was still alive, but technically... so was she. He connected her to his belt. "You'll do just fine here."

_I can't say anything or move..._ She thought to herself. She felt her anger grow and the keychain glowed white slightly. "Oh?" He questioned with a smirk. "You still have some fight in you." He flicked the keychain though because of the tough exterior, Haru couldn't feel a thing. "Too bad it won't do you any good." He turned to the other megas. "Let's return to Spiral Mountain. We'll take care of those other DigiDestined later."

The other megas nodded as they followed their leader. Haru felt despair for the first time since her parents died. She wasn't able to keep her promise to her friends. _Tai..._ She thought of her best friend. He would be quite with her. This will be the second time that she didn't keep his promise. _I'm so sorry..._ She felt her feelings and power grow, but there was no where to send it. She was trapped, and perhaps Piedmon was right. He seemed so confident when she declared that she would help her friends, maybe this prison was good enough that nothing could beat it.

_That's not true..._ It was Kudamon's voice. Perhaps their connection was strong enough to cross the barriers of their minds, or maybe... she was just losing hers. _Your spirit is what makes you strong, Haru. Never give up that spirit._

Whether she was going crazy or not, Kudamon's voice was right. She couldn't lose her spirit, her fight. She had to figure something out. _Right..._

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><p><strong>The End... of this chapter at least. I'm already starting on the next chapter. As of right now, I think I'm going to call it: She's Not Dead!. However, I don't pick the title until after I'm finished writing the chapter. But please Read &amp; Review this chapter. Give me tips. Let me know if you guys want to see anything specific happen. I can tell you there will probably be a bit of dialogue between Haru and Piedmon. <strong>

**But I do want to talk to YOU the readers so even if you don't want to comment on the story you can always send me a message. And if you don't know what to say, here's a question I want to ask you: Who is your favorite character in the Digimon Adventure story line? It doesn't have to be just a DigiDestined, it can be anyone!**


	9. Under Pressure and a Defiant Soul

**PSA**

Hello everyone! Long time, no write. I am starting up Graduate School in just a few days, and probably won't be around much, but since I don't feel like going out, I'm going to try to update my stories. Here is Chapter 8 of my Digimon story. And I do hope you enjoy what I write.

Like always:

1: Constructive criticism is always welcome!

2: Thank you to all who have added this story to their following or favorites! There are a few of you, but I deleted the emails like a butt head. But I'm sure you know who you are!

3: Thank you to all who continue to follow Haru on her adventures :)

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><p>Failure will never overtake me<br>if my determination to succeed is strong enough

- Og Mandino

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><p>Haru did not like the predicament that she was currently in. In fact, she downright loathed it. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak... she was useless. Kudamon and she hung from Piedmon's belt like an accessory and it made her sick. Well it would have made her sick if she could actually feel her stomach. Instead she just became extremely angry at what was occurring around her.<p>

The worst part of all this was that she could see and she could hear. She knew what was going on with her friends. Technically only a few of them were friends with her, the others were just acquaintances. Every now and then, Kudamon was able to speak to her through their strong bond, but other than that she was still mute.

The one thing she had been doing was storing up her energy. In fact, the keychain now had a permanent white glow to it, but no one seemed to pay any attention to her.

She watched as her friends walked along a beach. It would have been beautiful had it not been such dangerous times. She couldn't quite explain how she could see them, but she could. It was faint or foggy- almost like a dream.

Her keychain swung as Piedmon looked through a telescope from the top of Spiral Mountain. He was spying on the children, but Haru could tell that he was becoming aggravated. "How small they look from here. Like ants." He spat. "Strange that such little creatures could cause so much trouble!" His voice rose as he looked down at the two keychains he had already gained. Haru mentally glared at him which caused her keychain to glow brighter, but it quickly softened again.

None of the other megas seemed to noticed to short interaction between the two. MetalSeadramon rose to the challenge. "They won't for long." He declared. "They're standing on the edge of my territory now: the sea. I'll be the one to finish these DigiDestined once and for all."

"Hm..." Piedmon hummed though it sounded more like singing since he was intrigued by the words his fellow mega had to offer. "Bold words. But you're not the first to make such a boast, MetalSeadramon." Their leader was right. Many had gone against the DigiDestined, but somehow, someway, the children always seemed to come out on top.

"But I will be the last." He countered. "They'll be shark bait before the day is through." He laughed at the end of his sentence and the sound of it sent dread through Haru's soul.

Piedmon turned to look back through the glass at the DigiDestined. They were still situated on the beach, talking amongst themselves. He pulled away and unhooked Haru's keychain and brought it up in front of his face so she could get a good look at him. "So..." He spoke to her, his face threatening to show a dark smirk. "What will you do?" He paused as if he was waiting for her to answer him. "You're friends are down there all alone without you. They are going to go through terrible situations and you won't be able to do a thing about it."

Haru grew angry. Her keychain glowed. _I will stop you! _She screamed her thoughts at him.

Piedmon paused, and rose an eyebrow in curiosity. "Yes. It was a good thing that I didn't destroy you. You're powers are so very interesting." He said to her. "So tell me... how is it do you plan to stop me?"

The question was enough for Haru to know that she succeed in pushing her thoughts at him. _I would never tell you. _She answered.

"Isn't it because you don't have anything in mind?" He asked with a laugh. He gave her time to answer, but nothing ever came. The reason for her silence was because he was right. She knew what she wanted to do, but she didn't know how to go about it. "Just as I thought." He said suddenly bored again. "Looks like you and I will be watching to outcome from the sidelines."

Haru internally sighed as he hooked her back into place. _There must be something I can do..._ She thought to herself. She ignored all the things that should could see in front of her and went back into that dream like state. She wanted to be close to her friends once again. She wanted to reach out to them. The more she desired to go to them, the deeper into the dream she went. She began to feel light almost like she was floating, and when she opened her eyes, she really was floating.

She looked down at herself. Her camouflage pants, tan long sleeve shirt, and green short sleeved sweatshirt were gone. Instead she had on a long flowing white dress. _I look like a ghost..._ She thought to herself. When she looked down, she smiled. She saw the other DigiDestined sitting atop a large whale Digimon.

She saw her best friend right away, and flew down to see him. _Tai! _She cheered happily. _Tai? _She was right in front of his face, but he didn't react. She sat beside him as he fished, but nothing good came of it. When she tried to touch him, she went right through.

She saw the red haired boy typing on his computer and went over to see what he was doing. Right away, she could tell that he was gathering information on the Dark Masters and analyzing it. Despite being best friends with Tai, she was actually quite smart and could understand what he was looking at. She wanted to help him. By helping him, she would be helping Tai.

_I can help you..._ She whispered in his ear. She tried her best to reach out with her mind. The boy frowned and turned his head to look in her direction, but he saw right through her. She smiled as she realized she could help a little. She looked over the information that he was looking at and a thought crossed her mind. She wasn't sure if she was right, but she knew that this boy could determine right or wrong. She touched his hand, and surprisingly made contact since he too looked down at his hand. She had his attention. _WarGreymon. _

She saw him bring up WarGreymon's information on his computer. His eyes lit up as he read over the information. She had helped. She had beaten Piedmon. The sound of the harmonica stopping caught her attention along with Tai's.

"Why'd you stop playing Matt?" The brunette asked his best male friend. Haru implanted the name into her memory. The tall blonde DigiDestined was named Matt.

"That song is just too depressing, it always gives me the blues." Matt explained causing Tai to sigh. "Besides, I can't stop thinking about the Dark Masters. They're different than any Digimon we've ever faced before."

The red haired boy that Haru was helping stood and walked over to the two. His computer in his hand with the data he was just looking over. "Well, I've analyzed the situation and I believe we can beat them with WarGreymon." He explained. Haru smiled brightly as she stayed by his side.

"Huh?!" Matt and Tai explained in confusion.

"He's a Dramon Destroyer." He explained.

"Dramon Destroyer?" Matt asked confused not quite understanding what the redhead was saying.

"Try speaking English." Tai said which caused Haru to laugh though it went unheard. It would be her best friend that said something stupid.

"Well... you see the weapons on WarGreymon's arms are the key." He explained as he typed on his computer. He brought up an image of WarGreymon. "They're especially effective against Dramon type Digimon. Hence the phrase Dramon Destroyer." He showed the armor on WarGreymon's arms. "With these devices, we might be able to defeat the Dark Masters."

"Izzy! You're a genius!" Tai shouted. Haru looked down at the boy in front of her. So his name was Izzy. Tai was right. The boy basically was a genius. "Dramon Destroyer, huh?" He looked over at his Digimon. "Agumon you're going to eat those Dramon alive!"

However, when everyone looked at Agumon they just stared in both disgust as he ate a fish that was the size of himself whole. "That's not what I had in mind..." He mumbled to his partner. Even Haru was disgusted yet slightly amazed at the scene.

Suddenly, Haru felt an ache by her heart. The white symbol on her chest began to fade. Her energy was running low. She would have to recover. She was still sitting by Izzy, and she really wish she could stay. _I have to go... _She whispered.

She floated over to Tai. _I'll be back Tai._ She forced her thoughts to him as best she could.

"Haru?" Tai whispered as he looked over in her directions, but his heart fell when he realized that she still hasn't with them. She wish she could tell him that she was okay, but she could only do this. She used up too much energy and had to return to the keychain.

She was too tired to listen to Piedmon, and too weak to connect to Kudamon. She shut off her body and mind and focused on pulling in as much energy as possible for the next time that she would have to reach out to help them. Now that she knew she could, she would defy Piedmon as much as possible.

She was awaken by Piedmon's voice. "Well it looks like your friends are truly about to become Shark Bait. And here I thought they would pose to be a more challenging opponent." His voice was bored as he looked down upon the battle taking place.

He turned Haru so she could get a better angle, and what he was saying seemed to be true. They were having a difficult time against the Divermon and MetalSeadramon. After all the energy she used to help them, was it really not enough to protect them from the Dark Masters. _Tai... _She mumbled sadly. What was happening to them?

_Haru... _Haru's attention was pulled to Kudamon. _I know you went to see your friends. I know you were able to help them. You can still help them from here._

_But how?_

_Remember when you first made me Digivolve? _Haru remembered the time clearly. _You had to dig down to reach every bit of your emotion. Now you don't need to because it is easy, but you must do that again. Feel all the emotions that you can feel and turn it into energy. Send that to Tai and WarGreymon._

Haru watched the scene before her play out in despair. Fear, love, hope, anger, and faith... They were just a few of the emotions that played through her at various times. She knew. She knew her strength came from her spirit, and her spirit was comprised of all emotions, not just courage.

Her keychain began to glow so bright that the light caught Piedmon's attention. He laughed. "You think you can help your friends? You are more pathetic than I thought you were."

Haru ignored him. _Focus..._ She thought as she began to glow brighter. _Focus! _She felt the power within her expand. _TAI! _She yelled her thoughts so loud that the area at the top of Spiral Mountain burst out with light and energy.

"What the?!" Piedmon yelled at the sudden outburst.

Below where the battle was ensuing. Tai had just witnessed yet another one of his friends hurt by the Dark Masters. He felt hurt beyond belief, but just as suddenly he heard Haru's voice scream his name in his head. His crest and digivice glowed white as he felt a strange energy course through him and into WarGreymon just as he was using his Terra Force.

The added boost gave WarGreymon more than enough energy to push through MetalSeadramon's River of Power attack. He was able to mortally wound the evil Digimon and put an end to his reign of the sea.

Haru sighed triumphantly within the confines of the keychain, but her energy was almost completely depleted. "You... what did you do?" Piedmon growled.

"I beat... you." She said, but her voice was not strong enough to be convincing.

"Hah!" He barked out a sharp laugh. "You couldn't do that again if you tried!" He wasn't worried. The glow that was constantly around her keychain was basically gone. It was like the embers of a fire: slowly going out.

He walked over to where the other two megas were standing and watching the show. The ocean part of spiral mountain was slowly disappearing. Since there was no longer a Dark Master to rule over it, the DigiWorld was reconfiguring it.

"Well... you don't... see that every day." Piedmon said from his seat next to Puppetmon.

Puppetmon jumped down from the bench with a bit of effort. "Tag I'm it." He said. "MetalSeadramon out, Puppetmon in." He said with a smirk, and a dark laugh.

Haru stared forward. She couldn't believe what she was hearing to think that they really had no care for each other. _You'll never win like this._ She found herself saying to Piedmon. She heard Kudamon's protests, but for some reason it bothered her that they didn't care.

"Win like what?" Piedmon asked as he unhooked her and held her in front of his face. "Please... do tell. How is that we won't win?"

Haru could hear the smirk in his voice, and it truly bothered her. _You do not fight together._

Piedmon laughed. "Who needs to fight together?" He asked her. "We can take care of them separately." He waved a hand in dismissal.

But Haru felt deep down... this was going to be their undoing. They were underestimating Haru's friends if he thought they were going to be easy to defeat. _They won't be easy to beat with me around._ She thought, but kept that one to herself.


	10. A Deadly Game and a Distraught Girl

**PSA:**

Greetings again! Shout out to Digi-fanCapp and thunderyoshi for the reviews (you guys read it so fast). I'm glad you liked the idea of the story. I really just didn't want Haru stuck as a keychain unable to do anything so I tweaked the story line just a bit to include her. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone and please let me know if you have any ideas, thoughts, concerns about the story and what I am doing with it. I always welcome criticism (good and bad) it makes me a better writer! Now without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 9!

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><p>"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play<br>than in a year of conversation."

- Plato

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><p>Once Haru confronted Piedmon about how he wasn't going to win without fighting the DigiDestined together, she retreated into herself. Her soul felt tired. The outburst of energy she had given to Tai left her with little energy to use, and she needed to store up if she was going to help them with their next opponent. She could feel Kudamon reprimanding her for what she said to Piedmon, but she had a feeling the mega wasn't going to heed her words any time soon.<p>

But she ignored Kudamon for the moment and sank into herself. It was calm for the most part. Dark and cold, but calm. She let her mind wander to Tai, Kari, Sora, Matt, and Izzy. The only names she knew. What she didn't expect was for her to be looking down at them through that foggy haze from earlier. Looking would have to be enough since she didn't have enough strength to get closer. Besides it was best to save that for Puppetmon.

However, what she saw made her sad. The brunette that wore the cowboy hat was building small graves. She along with everyone else seemed so sad. Haru frowned realizing that they truly had lost many friends in such a short amount of time that it probably overwhelmed them.

"That one is to remember Wizardmon." The girl began, but Haru didn't recognize that name. It must have been before her time. "The one next to it is for Piximon." Haru felt her heart ache remembering that she had failed to save him. "That one's Chumon and this one is for Whamon." The feeling of sadness was overwhelming Haru. The whale like digimon had given the ultimate sacrifice to protect his friends. "And this one here is for Haru and her digimon." She whispered finally pointing to the fifth and last grave marker.

_I'm not dead. _Haru said, but she was too weak to voice her words to the rest of them. They thought she was dead? But why wouldn't they... She said she would return, but she never did.

"Mimi, they're not dead." Sora said trying to comfort the girl. "It's like they've been downloaded to a different computer."

"That's right, we're digital." Kari's digimon explained trying to get the younger girl to understand. "Our information just gets reconfigured."

"But what about Haru?" Mimi asked about the girl that they had just briefly met. The girl that said she would come back, but never did. There was a collective silence among both the humans and digimon because neither knew the answer.

"She's not gone." Tai said seriously causing Haru to smile. Leave it to her best friend to realize it. The guy that could say something so utterly stupid, but his instincts were pretty sharp at times.

"How can you be so sure?" Mimi asked.

"I felt her." He said causing everyone to look at him confused. "In the last seconds when we were fighting MetalSeadramon. I could feel her energy and it gave WarGraymon a power boost."

"You can't be serious." Matt deadpanned. To him, it was the most ridiculous situation.

"No..." Izzy pondered. "I thought I felt something strange too. When I was looking up information to defeat the Dark Masters. Perhaps she's not gone, but just can't come back."

"Like being held prisoner?" Sora asked concerned.

"Possibly." Izzy said trying to think about the situation. Haru leaned her head to one side. She had never met someone so smart. She was always the smartest in her group of friends, but it was refreshing to find someone smarter than herself.

"Well what better reason do we need to get the Dark Masters?" Tai asked seriously. He felt a fire in his chest grow with the thought of Haru still being alive. "Payback for making our friends leave and taking Haru away from us."

"I'm not going." Everyone turned to Mimi who had voice her objection.

"Huh?" Tai was baffled. "What are you saying?"

"I have had enough." She said with determination. "Every time we fight we end up losing another friend." Everyone in the group knew it was true. Even Tai, but... he knew that if they didn't win, their friends were still going to end up getting hurt.

"This is war Mimi," Haru implanted the name into her brain, "and sometimes the people we love get hurt. So deal with it." Tai's words were harsh. Haru knew that it was because he was also upset about what had happened, but Tai didn't have much of a filter. But the words along with his tone made even Haru's heart ache.

"Stop it Tai!" Mimi yelled in despair. Haru looked upon the girl with pity. Mimi didn't want to hear those words, but they knew the words were the truth.

"Enough!" Matt yelled turning on Tai. "Why don't you stop and think about other's feelings for a change."

"Huh?" Tai seemed to be taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"We all know you're right Tai, but just give us a little space."

"Huh?"

"We miss our friends who fought alongside of us. Not everyone has ice running through their veins like you do." Matt continued his onslaught of words.

"What?"

"Calm down!" Matt's younger brother yelled worried about the way things were turning.

"You're so busy looking forward that you never take time to look back. We've lost some good friends here Tai and it's nice to remember them once and awhile!"

"If we always stopped to do that then we wouldn't have enough time to save the world." Tai countered his best friend's attacks.

"You still don't get it, but I know you hear me. You're not listening." Matt said angrily.

"Stop it. You're making everyone upset." Sora said hoping to get the two friends to stop their fighting. Mimi was still by the graves and crying. Poor Palmon was trying to comfort the sad girl, but it wasn't working very well.

The arguing sent Haru's mind in a spiral. It hurt. It was like she could feel Matt's pain, and it was like something was stabbing her heart. She couldn't stay with them. She couldn't take the yelling because it made her so sad that it practically drained her. She looked at them sadly as she slowly allowed herself to come back in the presence of Piedmon.

"A shame isn't it." Piedmon said to Haru. He unhooked her and let her dangle in front of his face. His facial expression showing pure boredom. He had paused to let her ask what was a shame, but he quickly saw that his wishes were not going to be met. "You pester me about not winning because we fight separately, but here your friends are fighting over something as pathetic as lost friends." Suddenly his expression turned dark. "How could such foolish beings hinder my plans?"

He attached her back to his waist band. Haru had no desire to taunt him. She was still heartbroken from witnessing Tai and the others bicker about something like that. They were going to be in a dangerous situation if they couldn't work together properly, and Haru could only hope that they would be able to find peace again. She slept again as she regained her energy.

In her daze like sleep she was once again aware of what the DigiDestined were going through. However, she was still too tired to do anything. It made her sick that Puppetmon was able to toy with them so easily. However, she decided to use just enough energy to help the young boy.

She watched as TK ran up the stairs and down the hall. He entered a room through a double door and hid while telling the Digimon not to tell Puppetmon he was there. Haru frowned at how naive the boy was. Of course they wouldn't listen to the boy and Puppetmon came in looking for the young lad.

"Come out, come out where ever you are." He sang as he looked around the room. Then he turned back toward the doors. "Especially if you're behind the door! Aha!" He exclaimed when TK ran out of the room to get away.

Haru followed TK into a room where there was almost a board game looking thing with all the DigiDestined as dolls. She thought it was odd, but she wanted to stay with TK. She followed him down the hall, but they came across Puppetmon.

"Yoo hoo!" He sang as he walked up the stairs causing TK to stop running. Haru looked left and right, but there really wasn't anywhere else to go. "There you are. I found you. The game's over." He said in his creepy voice.

TK just stared at him, and Haru got nervous. "I'm gonna destroy you in a minute." He said while scratching his leg. "But first I have to scratch my leg." Haru just stared at him in confusion. "I guess that's what I get for having a leg made out of Poison Oak!"

Haru leaned down next to TK's ear. _You can outsmart him. _She whispered into his ear.

TK put his hands on his hips. "How boring." He said catching Haru off guard. "I'm not having any fun at all."

"What? I'm the life of the party. I put the fun in fungus." He had successfully gotten Puppetmon's attention.

"Hah! You just play the same game over and over again." TK said causing Puppetmon to gasp. "Boring!" The youngest boy sang.

"I'm not boring." He said dejectedly as he looked off to the side.

"Well if that's true, how come you don't have any real friends?" TK countered.

"I've got friends." Puppetmon had completely forgotten about destroying TK. Haru was impressed at how dumb this mega was that the young boy TK was able to outwit him.

"Yeah? Then how come I haven't met these so called friends of yours?" TK said leaning in closer to Puppetmon. Haru stayed close to TK. She wasn't sure she would be able to do anything if the mega remembered his desire to destroy the boy.

"Alright, I'll get them and introduce them right now." He turned and began to walk away from TK. The boy watched as Puppetmon ran back down the stairs and out of sight.

"TK!" The boy turned around to find Patamon. Haru felt relief flood through her. TK would be okay now that he had found his Digimon, but Haru wanted to make sure he got out of the building safely. Patamon told TK about the map, dolls, and remote that controlled everything and the two went back to Puppetmon's room to destroy them.

Once TK ripped up the map, he ran down the opposite stairs that Puppetmon had come. As they ran, they could hear Puppetmon looking for the boy. TK ran right out the front door and Haru returned to her own body to rest. He would get to the others before Puppetmon found him again, but she was afraid. Puppetmon would not be happy to know that the young DigiDestined ran away from him.

She could feel the others' happiness of finding TK as she returned to the keychain. But before she could retreat into herself, she felt the keychain begin to move again. When she looked out through the keychain's eyes, she was once again face to face with Piedmon.

"It seems the young boy was able to thwart Puppetmon." Piedmon said with a smirk. "Did you little deary have anything to do with that?" He waited, but Haru said nothing. Piedmon laughed. "Such an interesting character indeed. But it seems your actions were for naught." Haru didn't understand. TK was able to get away from the mega. He was back with all of the others. He was safe. "The brother seems to have left. Maybe his brother complex caused him to run away." Puppetmon laughed happily causing Haru to frown sadly.


	11. From Unseen to Seen

**Hello Hello! Ganzy and Haru here! Here is the next chapter of Haru's adventures with the others against the Dark Masters. This one was a little difficult to do. Wasn't sure what to do, but eventually got it all down on paper. It also took me a long time because I had to keep pausing the video so that I could write down what was happening. Very tedious work I should say. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Graduate school is difficult, but every now and then I manage to get some of my stories written.**

**Also! I'd like to thank Rio Zero Silver; snowmelodyheart for the Follow/Favorite! You guys rock! :) Now on to the story!**

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><p>The better you know yourself,<br>the better your relationship with the rest of the world.

- Toni Collette

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><p>Haru slept within the confounds of the keychain peacefully this time. But there was this voice in the back of her mind that was nagging at her to wake up. Something was wrong, but she truly just wanted to rest for once.<p>

Eventually, her body gave into her mind and woke from its slumber. She was alert right away. Something was wrong. She thought that maybe it was Piedmon, but she realized that she was still quietly attached to his belt, and he held no interest in her for the time being.

_What's going on, Kudamon? _Haru asked confused. She felt pain and fear echoing through her being.

_Something is wrong with the others..._ Kudamon replied sadly. _Piedmon is currently too relaxed._

_Perhaps it has something to do with the feelings I could feel from Matt... _Haru said sadly. _The boy had so many feelings coursing through his head. _He was so confused, she thought more to herself. _Should I go to them?_

Kudamon was quiet for a bit. _You can, but I don't know what you will be able to do for them if they are fighting each other..._

Haru didn't believe that they were fighting each other. Something else must be going on. Maybe someone was hurt and that was the reason for the pain that she was feeling. But when she arrived on the scene, she could easily feel the tension in the air. Something was truly very wrong.

"Calm down Matt. Don't get so bent out of shape. The last thing we need right now is a hothead with attitude. We've got more important things to think about." Tai said as everyone gathered nervously around the Matt and his mega. Haru stood by Tai though none of them could see her. She was trying to gather what was happening.

"Everyone's upset." TK said sadly.

"Look all I know is that all this stupid bickering is giving me a gigantic headache." Joe said walking over to Matt cautiously.

"Chill out." Matt said annoyed as he stood beside MetalGarurumon.

"Matt have you forgotten that we have been chosen to be the DigiDestined?" Joe spoke again trying to calm the blonde.

"Hm!" Matt seemed to suddenly get cocky or possibly annoyed. Haru couldn't really tell at the moment. "And would you mind telling me who exactly chose us for this stupid job in the first place?" Joe was left speechless, but then again everyone was because no one truly knew why they were brought to the Digital World in the first place. "I want answers and no one can give it to me."

"You have a point there." Joe said giving up and agreeing.

"Don't waste your time Joe. Matt's just being a big spoiled brat." Tai said annoyed. Haru looked at her best friend worriedly. If he kept throwing insults like that, something was bound to happen.

"You're the brat. Why don't you go mind your own business?" Matt yelled at him.

"The problem with you is pretty easy to figure out. You're upset because you want to be the boss." Tai said pushing Matt's buttons.

"Yeah like I want to be boss of this sorry group. Any of you brainiacs want to take charge be my guest. I say we should just take care of ourselves." Matt said in return. The words made Haru frown. That was no way to treat your friends. He was basically trashing all of them.

"Stop fighting you two." Sora said walking forward trying to break the tension. "We've got to stick together. "

"Don't look at me." Tai defended himself causing Haru to sigh. "Matt's the one who started it. He's got a bug up his nose. Hmph!" Tai began to walk away. "I don't have to listen to this."

"Bug up the nose? That's a bad thing?" Agumon asked innocently as he followed after Tai.

"One moment." MetalGarurumon said as he jumped in front of Tai and Agumon to prevent them from walking any further.

"Ah!" Tai said as they stopped suddenly. "Don't push me too far." He said turning to Matt.

"Oh I'm scared." Matt said sarcastically causing even Haru to get angry.

"You had better be scared. I'm getting really mad." Tai said back as Sora looked between the two worriedly.

"Excuse me," they turned their attention back to MetalGarurumon, "but what are you going to do about it?" He threatened. All the while Puppetmon was watching the argument with glee from a tall tree out of sight. Haru couldn't believe this way happening. Everyone's emotions were running wild. It was hard for her to focus. It was like she was tuning into everyone's thoughts and emotions. It was weird. It was something new to her and she was having a difficult time handling it. She needed to ask Kudamon about it when she gets back. "Stay right there." MetalGarurumon said.

"Get real dude." Tai countered as Agumon stood protectively in front of him.

"Watch it, stand back." Agumon told Tai. MetalGarurumon jumped up and Agumon followed closely choosing to Warp Digivolve to WarGreymon. The two clashed and WarGreymon was able to push back his friend. "There is no need for us to fight." WarGreymon tried to speak some sense into MetalGarurumon.

"I must." MetalGarurumon said as he pushed WarGreymon back some. WarGreymon jumped up through the trees and MetalGarurumon followed him. Below, the other Digimon and DigiDestined yelled out as leaves and branches fell onto them. The two slashed and bit each other while their partners watched from below.

Haru simply watched on in fear and confusion. She turned to Tai. _How could you let this happen? _ She asked, but her emotions were so wild that she wasn't sure if her voice got out to him.

Tai, obviously not hearing Haru's words, had had enough and walked over to Matt. "What's the matter? You chicken?" Matt taunted, but didn't realize the state Tai was in.

"That's it!" Tai declared and punched Matt angrily.

_No! _Haru cried out upset. She didn't want to see the friends fight each other.

"Matt! I'm gonna tell mom that you were fighting." TK called obviously not understanding the situation.

"Sorry TK but I have to do this." Matt replied as he also punched Tai in the face causing Haru to flinch.

_"Both of you stop this right now!" _"Both of you stop this right now!" Haru yelled but Joe was the one to voice her thoughts.

"It's ridiculous." Izzy commented as he looked on.

"You two are just making things worse!" Sora reasoned. It was bad enough that their Digimon were fighting, but now them as well?

"He's got to be taught a lesson!" Tai said turning to her. "And fast! Here take this!" Tai said dishing out another punch. "I'm only doing this to honor all the brave Digimon that have helped us." Tai said as he grabbed at the collar of Matt's shirt. "They trusted us and believed in our commitment." Matt didn't look at him. "We can't let them down."

Matt stood. "What if we made a mistake?" He asked as they continued to fight. Their Digimon fighting as well. Explosions could be heard from above as the two fierce beings battled it out. And of course Puppetmon was enjoying the show unbeknownst to them still.

"Uh! I've had it!" Mimi said walking away from the two fighting. "I'm gonna stand here and stare at the flowers until everyone's getting along!" She said as she knelt down beside the flowers. Haru wished that would actually help because she also did not feel like looking upon something so ridiculous.

"Oh like that's going to help..." Sora said as she walked over to her friend.

Suddenly everyone was engulfed in a bright white light, Haru as well. She closed her eyes tightly and when she opened them, there was nothing. Everything around them was white except their black shadows.

"Where are we?" Tai asked.

"No idea." Matt responded as if they forgot that they had been fighting less than a minute ago.

"In this world, there is a balance between darkness and light." Kari said but it wasn't her voice. It was more mature. "The light represents all that's good in the world and the darkness is the evil. When the darkness becomes larger than the light, it upsets the balance." The surrounding white turned black and menacing.

"Woah! The balance seems to be really out of whack!" Tai said and Haru just shook her head with a sigh.

"So? Somebody find the switch and flip the lights back on." Joe said causing Haru to just stare. For one, nothing could be so simple. Also, how could someone so smart say something so... silly...

"There's something over there!" Sora called out looking to the side. Mimi turns to look as well and gasps at what she sees.

The others also look over, but it's Tai that finally voices what they all were thinking. "I know this sounds incredible, but could we be home again?" Tai asked confused. They looked around and saw Greymon, and Parrotmon floating up into the sky of Tokyo.

"I've seen that Digimon before!" Izzy exclaimed and started typing away on his computer. "Of course! That's Parrotmon. He was the mysterious Digimon that appeared at Highton View Terrace approximately four years ago. Now he's completely digivolved."

Kari walked up to him. "He passed through the dimensional divide. Some time ago, a digiegg fell through a hole from our world to yours." She explained.

"Kari what are you talking about?" Tai asked confused.

"I think Kari's had too much catnip." Gatomon said as she turned to Tai.

"My theory is that someone else is using Kari's body to speak for them." Izzy said as he turned toward him as well.

Kari turned toward the others. "My wish is that there be peace and happiness for everyone."

"I don't understand. Are you some sort of super being or something?" Sora asked completely confused.

"No nothing like that. I am similar to the Digimon. I was produced by databytes taken from the internet but there's a difference. Unlike the Digimon, we're unable to take a shape in the form of a physical body. In order for me to communicate with you, I had to temporary borrow Kari." The being inside Kari explained.

"Couldn't' you have taken Joe instead?" Tai asked pointing a finger at Kari.

"Hey!" Joe cried in shock and protest.

"I had to take Kari. She's the only one that I can communicate with. To be honest, I wanted to contact you when you arrived at File Island but it was completely impossible under the circumstances." They lifted into the air. Haru was pulled along behind. She had no choice since something seemed to have control of her body.

Light touched on every single one of the Digidestined from long ago.

"Wow it's a blast from the past!" Tai said seeing himself. "It's us four years ago!"

"Hey that's me!" Joe said and then realized something. "How typical, I'm on the telephone."

"I was so cute." Mimi gushed about herself.

"Hard to believe we were that little." Sora said of both herself and the others.

"There's my brother and me." TK said spotting himself and Matt looking over the balcony.

Tai suddenly laughed catching everyone off guard. "Look at Haru trying to climb over the railing." The statement also caused Sora to giggle since the two knew her when they were young. And the scene was something that happened often since Haru was short of stature.

"Hey!" Haru shouted. "Leave little me alone!" She was startled to see everyone turn and look at her. "Huh? You can see me?" She asked surprised. She suddenly felt a little anxious from the stares she was getting and it felt like her mouth was going dry.

Tai just stared at her, but then lunged to hug her. "You're okay!" But Haru was too surprised that the others could see her that she didn't respond. When Tai let go, she looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing the white dress anymore, but her normal clothes this time.

Sora floated over as well. "Where did you come from?"

"Um... I don't know..." She mumbled trying to understand everything.

"Haru has been following all of you and watching over you. Her crest is a bit different in a way." The being inside Kari explained. "Her crest is strength but it consists of three spirals and they represent the heart, the mind, and the body. Her desires brought her spirit to you."

"S-spirit?!" Tai shouted and then stared at Haru with wide eyes. He grabbed the shoulders of the confused Haru. "Rue! Are you dead?!"

Haru blinked at him. "No!" She yelled back at him. "What are you stupid?!"

Tai frowned confused. "What? Well then what happened?" Tai asked curiously. "Where did you go?"

"My guess is that Piedmon has her contained in some way." Izzy said causing Haru to look over and catch his black eyes. "It would explain why she couldn't return to us."

Haru nodded. "It's true." She saw everyone frown and smiled sweetly. "But don't worry," she began and the others unconsciously were affected by her kind spirit. "I'm not hurt - just trapped." She explained. "But I believe in you guys. You are strong, and I know my best friend will come get me." Tai grinned at that. Haru turned to the being within Kari. "How is it that everyone can see me now?"

"It is this place that we are in." The being said. "We've configured it so that the others could see you."

"Interesting..." Izzy said in thought as he watched Haru look over herself. He noticed how Tai was hovering close to her. He also noticed that his friend never took his eyes off of Haru as if she might disappear if he looked away. Eventually, Izzy looked around himself again to look at the younger version of him. "So we are all here..." He said in thought. "That's definitely me, but what's with the light?" Izzy asked curiously after a short pause.

"Its purpose is to process all of your vital information." She said.

"That's kind of freaky. Why's it doing that?" Matt asked as he looked at the lights.

"Just follow me." She said as they began to float up into the light in the sky along with Greymon and Parrotmon.

"Where are we now?" Sora asked. "Whoever you are?" They were in a large room that was filled with all different types of machinery.

"We're in a bizarre place indeed." Izzy said intrigued by the new things presented him. Haru wandered around the place glad to actually feel things under her fingers and feet. She was tired living as a keychain.

"Check this out!" TK said running over to a case of eggs. Everyone followed him. Haru stared in awe as she slowly walked over. She placed a hand on the glass in front of the last egg being displayed. These must be DigiEggs, she thought to herself. And the one in front of her... she could recognize that crest anywhere, it was hers. This was Kudamon's egg. Koromon was the one that pointed out the crests and Digivices to the other kids. But Haru could only gaze lovingly at the egg that remained just out of her reach. She missed Kudamon, and as much as she hated being a keychain, she did not like being away from her partner for too long.

"Okay. This is getting weird." Matt said. He didn't really like this situation.

"Oh and floating in the sky is normal?" Joe asked sarcastically. He turned around and saw ghost like beings and began to freak out causing Haru to flinch out of her daze and turn around to see the problem. "Okay it's official this is definitely giving me the creeps." Joe said causing Gomamon to make a snarky comment about them not saying hello as they began working on the machines.

"These men are just computer images." Kari explained. "They are figments from the past who have been digitally transmitted to your present."

Izzy gasped as he walked among the machines. "I don't believe it! This is from Myotismon's castle!" He said looking at the device that had helped them get back home.

"Here's Myotismon's secret passage!" Biyomon said flying over to the large door. All of the DigiDestined were surprised as they gathered near it. It was prior to Haru's time so she remained by her egg, one hand still on the glass.

"Let me guess, those are the elves that make the shoes at night." Joe said turning to the ghosts.

"They're monitoring the positive and negative forces to preserve harmony in the world. We took the information that we scanned from all of you then we created your Digivices and crests." Kari explained.

"You did that?" Sora asked in amazement.

"That must mean that you're the ones that chose us." Tai said walking forward. "Is that true?"

"Yes it is." The being in Kari replied.

"Then tell me this: What makes us so special?" Tai, along with everyone else, truly wanted to know the reason behind why they were chosen for this role.

"You made it possible for Greymon to survive and digivolve and it couldn't have been accomplished without help from you and Kari."

"But he digivolved without me." Tai countered.

"A Digimon can't digivolve without you. It doesn't work that way. The very fact that you were both there made him digivolve in order to protect you." She countered.

"But how? We were just goofy little kids and we didn't even have a digivice." He replied once more.

"Yeah... and I could barely even see what was going on, I was so small..." Haru mumbled under her breath.

"A digivice is just a tool that's designed to help in the digivolving process. It assists you by making you aware of your powers but it's the special qualities in each of you that really makes it work. The same thing with the crests. Can you tell me what your personal crests really represent?" She asked.

"Well mine's courage." Tai began.

"And this one means love." Sora replied.

"Sincerity." Mimi said happily.

"Mine's knowledge." Izzy said looking at his crest.

"Strength." Haru said proudly placing a hand on her chest as the crest had been sealed within her.

"Reliability." Joe answered.

"I know what this crest means! It's hope!" TK cheered.

"Well mine is..." Matt began, but he didn't want to answer the question. He didn't like his crest. He didn't think it fit him and his feelings were so strong that Haru could pick up on it.

"Oh wasn't it called friendship!" Joe said patting Matt on the shoulder jokingly.

"All of that's true but there's more to it than that." Kari explained. "Everyone of you has strengths and weaknesses. We took each of your strongest qualities that you possessed four years ago. Then we made a crest for them."

"Oh I get it." Tentomon said.

"If that trait is lost then the Digimon might become corrupted." Kari said.

Tai gasped. "That happened!" He exclaimed causing Haru to frown. "When I tried to make Agumon digivolve by throwing myself in front of his enemy. But then something weird happened. He digivolved into SkullGreymon. And now I realize that was pretty foolish."

Haru scoffed and looked at her best friend. "And here I thought you had grown up some. You really are such an idiot." How could he do that to his Digimon?

"We were in a tight spot!" He defended. "At least I understand now."

"And that is the important thing - you learned from it." Kari said explaining.

"All this time we've been racking our brains trying to figure out stuff about ourselves that we already knew!" Joe said understanding. "Huh! That's a fine howdy doo. Huh?"

Matt walks toward what would eventually be his crest and Haru watched him sadly.

"Prodigious! It makes sense that you chose Tai and Kari. But we never made contact with the Digiegg so why us?" Izzy asked since he couldn't make sense of it.

"When we examined all of your data, we came to the conclusion that you had something in common with Tai and Kari." The being said. "But we're not quite sure what it means. All we know is that you've proven yourselves to be very capable."

TK walks over to the case. "Who do these belong to?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kari asked waiting for the little boy to realize.

"I have a feeling it's us!" Patamon said coming to the rescue.

"Yes!" Kari said happily.

"Wow! Which one's me?" Palmon asked excitedly.

"I think the answer's in the crest." Tsunomon said looking on.

They look on happily at the crests and eggs. Haru, on the other hand, frowned sadly. "Kudamon... I'll be back soon..." She whispered slightly. Even though she was around the others, she had a feeling of loneliness.

"Yes, but I'm afraid I have bad news." Kari said sadly. "The Dark Masters got wind of our plan and worked very hard to defeat us." A battle began to commence, and a few of them got worried. "Save your breath, they're computer images."

"What? Just because those guys are computer images. We have to sit back and do nothing?" Tai asked annoyed. Haru put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head causing him to calm slightly.

"His name is Gardromon." Izzy said looking on his computer. "He's a machine digimon. And his armor is constructed of solid iron. Absolutely nothing can penetrate that can of beans."

"Here comes some more of them!" Matt called out and Mimi screamed. Mekanorimon and Gardromon continued to break through the laboratory causing chaos to ensue.

"Ah! Piedmon is here." Joe yelled out. "Don't come any closer! Shoo! Go away!"

"Relax he's just an image." Gomamon said in an obvious tone.

"Yeah, save your screaming for the real thing." Sora half joked.

"He's going to steal the crests!" Tai called.

"Oh no!" Mimi yelled.

Haru turned in surprise and for some reason called out even though she knew that everything here had already taken place. "No!" She yelled and she felt her emotions spike and her body began to glow. When she realized what was happening, she took a few deep breaths and her body returned to normal. It had gone unseen to everyone except Izzy who watched her curiously. She had suddenly become something of mystery for him.

"Piedmon! Hands off those crests!" Gennai called out.

"Gennai..." Piedmon glared.

"That man's Gennai?" TK asked confused.

Gennai attacked Piedmon with a sword, but Piedmon inserted something into his back. Gennai jumped on a Mekanorimon and removed the Bakumon in order to take control of it himself. He then grabbed the eggs and devices using the Mekanorimon and escaped.

"Follow him! Don't let Gennai out of your sights!" Piedmon ordered.

Gennai burst through the roof and began to flee with the Piedmon's goons following him. While being attacked, Gennai lost hold of Gatomon's digiegg and it began to fall. "That's my digiegg!" She called out sadly. "So that's why I was brought up all alone. That explains it."

"Cheer up! We're together now!" Biyomon flies by her. Gatomon nods and continues to float on.

"It's File Island!" Tai says as they get closer. Haru looked on curiously.

After Gennai rescued the digieggs and crests. Many years passed by until finally... the Digimon were born. They waited for a long time until finally their partners arrived. However, it was Kudamon who never hatched.

"What's wrong with Kudamon?" She asked worriedly. She hadn't met Kudamon in the DigiWorld and she had never had time to ask him about his past.

Kari shook her head sadly and the others became curious as well. "We do not know." Kari said earnestly. "Gennai eventually kept your egg with him. He did all he could, but Kudamon would not hatch." Haru looked sadly as Gennai took the egg with him. "It seems as though he did not hatch until he was in your presence for he is now alive and well." She offered trying to ease the troubled girl.

But it didn't help much. The more she was around the others she noticed how much different Kudamon and she were. Her crest was able to merge with her, she had one attribute that branched into three different parts of her, and she could project her spirit to the others. The thought of her difference made her feel a little out of place being near the others.

Kari waited for Haru to speak, but noticed the girl had gone into her own thoughts. So she decided to instruct the others once again. "The question is: What exactly are the Dark Masters planning?" The being asked. "We are working day and night trying to find out. For now, all we can do is guess and try to outwit them before something terrible happens."

"Well if that's true, what should we do now?" Tai questioned.

"It's hard to say but I believe you'll all find an answer on your own." The being in Kari said earnestly.

The world they were in began to fade. Tai turned to Haru and noticed her appearance had begun to change. "Haru, what's happening?" He asked worriedly causing the others to turn as well.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing the white dress that she donned when following the others as a spirit. She frowned to herself, but smiled when she looked at the others. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." She promised.

Izzy spoke next. "You're becoming transparent..." He noticed he was beginning to see through her form.

The being within Kari spoke once more. "We are returning to the Digital World." She began. "There you cannot see Haru, but if you focus enough, you'll be able to feel her influences. She gave her thoughts to Izzy, she gave strength to Tai and WarGreymon, and she helped TK in his confrontation with Puppetmon. Just because she can't be seen, does not mean she is not with you."

It was getting harder to see her. "So you'll have to go back to Piedmon..." Sora stated, but it held a note of question behind it. She was worried for the younger girl.

"Don't worry." Haru said again. "He finds me interesting so he won't do anything." It didn't do much to ease their worries as she became completely invisible and the Digital World returned. She forced her thoughts out to all of them. _"I'll be with all of you!"_

She saw all their eyes widen as her voice touched their ears like a whisper in the wind. With that, she returned to her place by Kudamon. The experience had left her drained, and she had a feeling that she would have to save her energy for the upcoming events.


	12. Our Purpose

**A/N: Here's another chapter! Haru was very cooperative with me and so was Kudamon in this chapter actually... So it's up earlier than usual! Maybe I'll write up a Halloween spin off :D HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

**A big thank you to: RBreimond; -music-box for following this story! Haru and I really appreciate your support**

**Digi-fanCapp: your reviews always make me happy! Thank you so much :) it means a lot that you really enjoy this story and I hope you keep enjoying it!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 11: Our Purpose<p>

**The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive,  
>but in finding something to live for. <strong>  
><strong>- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazou<strong>

Haru returned to the keychain, and once again her mind shut down. She could feel the stiffness of the keychain body as her mind stopped thinking. She was vaguely aware of Kudamon's presence at the back of her head. He was looking into what just happened. She allowed her mind to be open to him. She allowed him to look at whatever he wanted. If they could communicate in this way and her emotions were connected to his strength, she figured it was important to be open with each other.

So while she rested, Kudamon looked into her memories. Her mind drifted in the wonderful emptiness of unconsciousness - avoiding the dangers of her current predicament of being a hostage, the fact that she was low on energy, that her friends were separating, and that there was little to nothing she could do at the moment.

_Haru... _She heard Kudamon's voice in her mind. _You must wake up Haru._

_But I'm too tired... _She mumbled across the connection.

_We need to talk about what is happening. I believe that our power is going to be very important soon. And... _he paused, _I know you want to discuss something with me._

Haru forced herself awake. Even though she was weak from the time she spent out of her body, she could feel the urgency in Kudamon's thoughts. She knew that he had looked at her memories regarding the being that took over Kari. She could assume that he wanted to talk about what she had learned. _Do you want to discuss it with me? _She didn't want to talk about something that could make things uncomfortable for him.

_Well... I don't really understand much, but it cannot hurt to talk about it, correct? _Kudamon asked.

Forcing away the view from outside the keychain, Haru looked back into the darkness until she could make out Kudamon's spirit. She wanted to talk face-to-face, but this would be as close as she could get. She was just happy that she wouldn't have to deal with Piedmon. _You're right. _She finally answered. _But where do we begin?_

_Wherever you wish._

_I... _She paused. _I just don't understand us. _She finally said. _At first... I thought we were no different from the others. I am a Digidestined and you are my partner. I have a Digivice and a crest as well. _She saw Kudamon's spirit nod telling her that she was correct. _But I learned that my crest is different. It had three different parts to it... the heart, the mind, and the body... I don't understand that._

Kudamon was quiet for some time as he pondered her thoughts. _From what was said, _he was referring to what Haru had heard the being say in her memories, _it seems that at the time the DigiWorld gathered your data... your strongest attribute was strength. But not just being physically strong. You also had a strong heart and mind. So your Crest of Strength spread into three different parts._

_But am I really that strong? _She found herself asking. Kudamon waited for her to continue. _My heart... isn't it broken?_

Kudamon's eyes widened. He knew what she was talking about as she placed a hand over her chest - over the place where the symbol of her crest was. She was talking about how she had given in to the darkness. How she had allowed darkness to invade her heart when she found out about her parents' deaths.

Haru could feel the overwhelming love coming from her Digimon and looked up confused. _Just because you faltered on your path does not mean that you are weak. Your crest saved you, yes. _He saw Haru's eyes darken. _But if you did not still have the attribute of a strong heart, then you wouldn't have been compatible with the crest. It wouldn't have been able to join with you._

Haru looked down at her chest. The mark, in her spirit form, was very light - almost unnoticeable unless you really looked at it. _So I'm still strong... _she mumbled to herself.

_Very much so to be able to come out on top of your situation. You are a very strong girl, Haru. _He smiled.

_Rue. _She said causing Kudamon to look at her confused. _Call me Rue. It's what my best friends call me. _He nodded in understanding with a small smile placed on his face. He knew that she only let a handful of people call her by that name. He knew that this meant that she truly cared about him and considered him a special friend.

_What else would you like to talk about Rue? _He asked after some time.

She looked down in thought. _We really are different... aren't we? _She laughed. Before Kudamon could ask her what she was talking about, she continued. _You didn't hatch until you were in my presence. Everyone else hatched long before the DigiDestined arrived in the Digital World._

His eyes widened slightly, but he nodded. _Apparently, I stayed with Gennai. _He said, but he did not remember his time with this person because he was still in his egg. _But even I do not know what this means._

_I guess that's something we will figure out on our own..._

_Perhaps that's how it needs to be. _Kudamon said with a nod. Just because neither of them knew or understood did not mean that they couldn't figure it out on their own.

_Maybe it has something to do with this mental connection between us... _Haru allowed her thought to go out to Kudamon, but the digimon simply shrugged since he truly, honestly, did not understand that difference. _But it's not just that... I can reach out to others even though I'm not with them. I can give them my strength and thoughts... None of the others from what I can tell... can... do that. Who- what are we, Kudamon? What's our purpose?_

Kudamon could tell that her powers and thoughts were confusing her, but he didn't have the answers to those questions. He simply shook his head because he knew that no words would console her now. _We will find out in time... _He tried, but like he thought, it didn't help her much.

A silence passed between them. Neither spoke as each shut the other out of their thoughts so that they could think separately again. Suddenly Haru gasped and held her head in her hands. _Rue? _Kudamon asked feeling his partner's discomfort.

Her eyes looked distant - almost cloudy. _I have to go. _Her voice held a dreamy tone to it.

_Wait! _Kudamon tried to stop her. _You don't have the strength yet to go. You'll end up hurting yourself! _But he watched as her spirit dissolved into thin air. _Stupid... _He thought with a sigh.

She flew through the air looking for what was pulling her away from Piedmon. She saw below that Joe and Mimi were on a path toward Puppetmon, but also a strange Digimon that she did not recognize. However, she could tell that he was dangerous just from the presence she felt from him. But not far from where they were, she felt a strong and good presence and went to it, knowing that they would need help with the state that Mimi was in. Haru could feel Mimi's wavering heart. She no longer wanted to fight and see others get hurt.

She appeared before the Digimon. He looked like a lion, but he walked on two legs. In her daze, she reached out to him and touched his back causing him to stop and look around. _"They need your help." _She pushed to him. She noticed that he had the ability to digivolve, but he didn't have control over it. To make sure he could help, she transferred energy into him forcing him to digivolve. _"Go to them." _She urged and then disappeared and returned to Kudamon.

_You... idiot! _Kudamon roared inside her head when he saw how weak she was when she returned. Her eyes could barely stay focused on him. _We don't know the extent of your abilities and yet you keep pushing yourself to the limit. Have you thought of what could happen if you went beyond your limits?!_

Haru couldn't answer him, but she knew why he was so angry. What if she did something irreparable? What if she completely destroyed herself? She could feel his fear and worry in her own mind. Those were the thoughts he was thinking. What if she died? What if she couldn't come back. _It's okay... _She mumbled exhausted.

_No it's not! _He yelled back. The intensity of his thoughts caused Haru to wince internally. However, Kudamon felt her discomfort and immediately detached himself from her mind. He didn't want to cause her unnecessary strain.

They stayed quiet. Haru was too tired to talk. Kudamon... too upset to think. When she was finally able to relax easily, she reached out to her partner and apologized. Even though he didn't give her an answer, Haru could tell that he had forgiven her slightly. She wondered to herself if their connection was getting stronger that they could tell what was happening just from their emotions.

However, it wasn't long until another call for help was heard. She turned to go, but Kudamon stopped her again. This time he attached his spirit to hers, preventing her from leaving. _Kudamon! _She yelled angrily. _Let go! They need help!_

_No! Think about this! You need more rest. _He countered.

Haru frowned. She knew he was right... but... _What if this is our purpose? _She asked, but Kudamon didn't respond. _This is the only thing that I can do. I can give warnings, I can give them strength. Even if it puts me in danger... I need to do something. _Haru felt Kudamon's grip on her spirit lift slightly. _Kudamon?_

_Don't do something stupid. _He finally said as he completely let go her.

Haru could tell that he wasn't happy about the situation, but he wasn't stopping her. He was afraid, but so was she. But they understood. This was something that she had to do. _Thank you. _She whispered as she disappeared from him again - leaving Kudamon nervous and fidgety.

Once again she appeared in the forest of the Digital World. Below she saw Puppetmon pushing back the DigiDestined with his house, but she could also tell that he was weak. She saw Matt and MetalGarurumon not far from them and quickly went to them.

She stood in front of them. She knew that he didn't want to go to them, but she also knew that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to his friends. Because despite what he said, he still considered them friends.

She reached out and touched Matt's shoulder. He stopped when he felt her presence. He knew it was her because he had felt her when she disappeared in front of his eyes. "Haru?" He felt funny talking to the air. "Is that you?" MetalGarurumon was going to question Matt why he was talking to nothing, but stopped when he also felt her presence.

Haru reached deep down within herself. _"The others need you." _She said and saw him frown. She wanted to say more, but she had already given too much energy away to the lion looking Digimon. She tried to hold on, but the pull to her body was too strong and her presence was gone.

Haru returned exhausted and frustrated that she couldn't say anything more. She just hoped that Matt would be able to do something for them. Kudamon didn't lecture her this time, but she felt his worry engulf her mind. When she regained enough energy, she showed him what she had seen.

_I'm sure this Matt will go and help them. _Kudamon said with a nod.

Haru sighed. _I hope so..._

Kudamon noticed that her eyes were shutting. _You should rest now. _He commented. _The others are going to need you more the closer they get to Piedmon._

_You're not going to try to stop me again? _She asked confused. She knew how worried he was about her using these abilities that they knew little to nothing about.

_No... _He said after some thought. _Like you said. Perhaps this is our purpose. Perhaps you are here to support them from the shadows, and... perhaps I am here to be your anchor to come back._

_Our purpose... _Haru mumbled as she drifted off into sleep. Before her mind turned off, she had become somewhat aware that Piedmon had been quiet for a long time now. Maybe he was bored of her...


	13. My Friends' Keeper

**Back again. Somehow managed to write another story in the midst of all my work! Woah! Partially because I've been thinking about what to write about in the upcoming chapters. I have a lot of muses that go through my head, but lately Haru has been prominent probably because her strength is contagious and I am definitely going to need it in the upcoming school weeks...**

**i see you see - Thanks for the follow! I'm glad you like it. It is a bit short, but I've got plans for the future as you can tell from my two other fics of Izzy's Valentine's Day Surprise and A Very DigiDestined Halloween. There will be more to come for Izzy and Haru (mwahaha) :P**

**Narniagril - Thank you for following!**

**Now on to the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12: My Friends' Keeper<strong>

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><p>"The truth is,<br>unless you let go,  
>unless you forgive yourself,<br>unless you forgive the situation,  
>unless you realize that the situation is over,<br>you cannot move forward."

- Steve Maraboli, _Una__pologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience_

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><p>Haru was asleep for a long time. How long? It's hard to say when you're being trapped in a keychain. Time was weird when you were two inches tall and made of plastic. But regardless of time... she actually woke on her own and not to someone forcing her. It was a nice to feel fresher, but she still felt tired.<p>

Kudamon noticed that Haru was awake and she instantly felt him checking up on her. She laughed and smiled at him. _I'm okay. _She promised, but let him into her mind anyway to prove herself.

_But you are still not 100 percent. _He said with a huff.

She could tell that he was frustrated. _Hey, isn't this fine? _She asked. _I feel okay._

He didn't say anything. _At least... you are feeling better. _He finally relented. Haru smiled brightly, glad that he wasn't being such a sour Digimon for the time being. _You slept for a very long time._

_How long? _Haru asked confused.

_Almost a day I think. _Kudamon said with a short nod. He noticed the worry in her face, but he calmed her. _Piedmon has been quiet for some time. It does not seem like anything has happened to the others. In fact, I feel as though if something happened, you would have woke up and gone to them._

Haru laughed at the annoyed look on his face. _You're right. _She said sadly. _I'm sorry. _She said suddenly causing Kudamon to look at her confused. _I never thought about it before, but I should have. I'm sorry for always leaving you alone here. It must really take a toll on you when I'm not here._

Kudamon didn't answer as he thought about what she said. He remembered her feeling of loneliness when she was with the others. He had felt it clearly in her memories. _You do not have to apologize when you feel just as lonely when you are gone._

Haru felt embarrassed and it made it worse that she knew Kudamon could feel that embarrassment as well. _Well, _she mumbled, _you didn't have to point it out... _She could feel Kudamon's amusement. However, before she could say anything, Piedmon sighed and successfully caught her attention. She took her eyes away from Kudamon and looked out through the eyes of the keychain.

"The plot sickens." Piedmon said as he held up a martini looking glass filled with some sort of pink liquid. "Hum. I had such high hopes that these Little Ones would put on a more entertaining show. But this... _REALLY_," she noticed how he drawled out the word, "it's too tiresome!" He looked down at what was being shown in the telescope. "Can we just get this over with and get on to something a little less tedious? There's no escape from Machinedramon!" He shouted. "He's designed for total annihilation. It's only a matter of time now before he catches them and then the game is over." He closed his eyes slightly. "Ah... it's not fair that that overgrown can opener gets all the fun when I was so looking forward to playing with them myself. Farewell Little Ones!" He raised his glass to the telescope as if to salute the DigiDestined.

A glowing caught his attention. He looked down and noticed that Haru's keychain was glowing. "Oh?" He lifted her up to eyelevel. "Are you sad that your friends are going to die?" Her keychain glowed brighter. "Or are you angry?" He asked curiously. Then the keychain glowed so bright that Piedmon had to shield his eyes. "I'll take that as a yes." He mumbled annoyed. "But what is it? Cat got your tongue?"

_"They'll never lose to you." _She said defiantly.

"Oh but from the looks of it..." He said pointing her toward the telescope. "Maybe it's time for some of your help." He taunted her, but she took his words seriously.

_I'll be back Kudamon. _ She said to him as she moved to go find Tai. He needed help again. _Why is it always Tai? _She sighed in frustration. She let her body appear before them though they couldn't see her. They were in a church, and as she looked around, she felt a sense of peace touch her.

"It's all my fault." Izzy said upset. Haru looked over at him confused. "I was giving away our location every time I logged on with my computer." Haru looked at him sadly and gently touched his shoulder trying to relax him. "How could I have not thought of that before?"

"Good question! Now we're stuck here!" Tai yelled grabbing onto the collar of Izzy's shirt and pulling him up slightly away from the ground. Haru's brown eyes widened. "Meanwhile, Kari's getting sicker and sicker because of you!" He continued his onslaught as Agumon and Tentomon tried to pry them apart.

_Stop... _ Haru mumbled in disbelief. It was getting too common for them to fight each other, and she really didn't like it. She was sick of it.

"Stop it Tai! What's come over you?" Agumon asked still trying to push Tai away from Izzy.

Haru quickly touched Tai's shoulders and focused on feeling calm. She could feel him relax slightly under her light touch. "Huh?" Tai finally realized what he was doing and pulled away from Izzy. "I'm sorry, Izzy." Tai said covering his face and turning away. Haru could feel his grief easily, and it was no surprise to her when he dropped down to his knees.

"Hey Tai... this isn't your normal behavior." Izzy said noticing the extreme difference in his friend.

"It's Kari. She almost died once before because of me." He admitted to his friends. They all gasped in surprise. Haru's eyes widened as she moved to kneel in front of him. She saw how beat up he was over this. She vaguely remembered her parents talking about it. It was around the time she was seven if she remembered correctly.

"It all happened when she was four or five. Just when she was a little kid. She stayed home from kindergarten one day because she was sick." He began to explain himself. "I mean, I knew she was sick, but all I could think about on the way home was playing soccer. I wanted to go out and play, but I didn't want to leave her by herself so I took her outside with me. She seemed okay. Really she did!"

Tears ran down his face. "She ended up with pneumonia or something. She almost didn't make it." Haru understood now why Tai was so protective of Kari. "But what really kills me is what she said when they brought her home from the hospital. The first words out of her mouth, "Tai, I'm sorry I can't kick the ball very good. You'll probably never want to play with me again." That's her, that's Kari. She never thinks about herself. It doesn't matter if she feels bad or if she's bummed about other stuff. She's always worried about the other kids. She wouldn't be sick! She would be just fine if she never came to this stupid place, but she came because she knew that we needed her help. She never thought about what she wanted. She never does!" He said through choked sobs.

"Because she cares..." Izzy tried.

"She's a kid!" He cried back. "I'm her big brother. I'm supposed to look after her and protect her and think of what's best for her." He held tightly onto the pills that were in his hands. "That's what I'm supposed to do!"

"Oh Tai..." Agumon whispered.

_"Tai..." _Haru said projecting her thoughts. She noticed that everyone showed surprise meaning that it wasn't just Tai who was hearing her.

"H... Haru?" Tai asked looking up in her direction. He couldn't see her, but he could definitely feel her.

_"I'm here Tai..." _She moved forward and encircled her arms around him. She hoped he could feel her touch. _"I'm here..."_ She watched as a choked sob broke through his throat and his shoulders shook.

"I'm so sorry, Haru." He whispered to her.

_"Silly, what are you apologizing for?" _She pulled back and noticed that everyone was still listening to her. She could also feel her energy depleting. _"Kari is lucky to have a big brother like you. You were young. You made a mistake." _His head shook back and forth as tears continued to fall. _"It's okay to fail on your path now and again as long as you stay true to it. You love Kari and you care for her. She knows that." _She said mimicking the way Kudamon had spoken to her about her doubts of being strong.

"But what if something happens to her again?" He asked sadly.

_"You've got the pills, yeah?" _He nodded his head. _"Then you know what to do." _His breathing began to steady and the tears began to slow. _"You have the ability to make a difference this time. All of you do." _She said to everyone. _"Don't let me down guys." _She laughed slightly. _"You know I'm still waiting for you right?"_

"But what should we do?" Izzy asked confused. His trusty computer and skills had already seriously backfired on them. He wasn't sure if he could do anything else.

_"Oh come on Izzy..." _She began. Her voice held a slight joking tone. _"I think you're pretty smart to figure it out on your own right?"_

Izzy smiled and shook his head slightly. "I'll figure something out then." He said getting his spirits up again at the challenge she had presented him.

_"That's good to hear." _Her voice held a sad and longing tone. It went unnoticed by most except her best friend.

"You're not staying?" Tai asked suddenly. He wanted her to stay, but he could tell by her voice that she wasn't going to be able to.

Haru shook her head, but realized that he couldn't see her. _"No... I have to go back. I only have so much energy to use. Voicing myself to all of you drains a lot of my energy, but... I think this was necessary. When you get to Kari, give her a hug for me, okay? I'll be waiting for you guys, and looking after you as well."_ Despite her sadness at having to leave she let out a girlish laugh which caused Tai to smile slightly. She was always trying to lighten the mood. It was one of the reasons why Tai enjoyed her friendship.

"Thanks Rue." Tai said softly.

"I think I know exactly what to do!" Izzy suddenly exclaimed and ran to his computer.

_"Looks like your boy genius found the answer he was looking for." _Haru said to Tai alone. Her voice held a hint of a smile.

He chuckled. "I miss you, Rue."

_"I miss you too. Goodbye..." _She felt a pang of loneliness as she whispered to Tai. When they were at home, they spent every day with each other. This was abnormal for the two of them. She missed playing soccer with him.

Eventually she moved to Izzy. _"Keep him in line for me, okay?" _She saw Izzy smile slightly and nod as he typed away at his computer. _"Thanks..." _She said as she disappeared into nothing again.

"No problem Haru." Izzy said as he continued to type away on his computer, looking for ways that he could bypass the system.

Agumon sat beside Tai, who was still slightly emotional. "Your friend Haru seems like a good person." He said surprised that the girl was able to calm his partner down so quickly.

Tai chuckled and shook his head. It was just like Haru to show up when he really needed her. She always found a way to calm him down. "She really is. She's always been there. She's my best friend, but even Kari sees her like an older sister now..." He wiped away the tear stains from his cheeks as he continued to calm down.

"Is that why you were angry with her at first?" Agumon asked confused.

"What?" Tai asked equally confused.

"When we saw her with Piximon." Agumon explained. "You got really upset."

"Because..." he paused in thought. "You know how all of us were at summer camp?" Tai asked and his partner nodded. "Well... Haru was supposed to come as well. I was supposed to take her, but she wasn't home. She just left without saying anything."

"So you were angry?"

"Well... yeah. She tells me everything." He said with a shaky breath. "I guess I was just upset that she decided not to tell me something. I was really excited to go to summer camp with her."

"She probably had a good reason." Izzy spoke up causing Tai to turn around and listen. "She seems like a very bright girl. If she didn't tell you that she wasn't going to summer camp, there's a good possibility that she just couldn't tell you. Maybe something happened the night before."

Tai stood and walked over to look at what Izzy was doing. "Maybe your right." He said with a sigh. His voice and breathing finally back to normal. "I should probably apologize at some point for snapping at her like that."

"It would be nice." Izzy said in a matter of fact tone. "But don't let it get to you too much. She seems to be doing just fine on her own. She's quite the interesting person."

Tai despite his mood managed to smirk and elbow his friend slightly. "You find her interesting, eh?" He said with a snicker.

"N-not in that way!" Izzy said blushing when he realized what Tai was implying. "A-anyway let's just focus on getting back to the others for now."

"You know Izzy... I am her best friend. I could put a good word in for you." Tai said smiling brighter at his friend's discomfort.

"Focus Tai!" Izzy said getting overly emotional at the statement causing Tai to laugh. Izzy wasn't comfortable enough to explain his curiosity of Haru. She was something that interested him because there was something different about her that didn't make sense to him.

Tai just grinned brightly. His previous depression pushed away by the thoughts of his friends being there for him. The lingering feeling of Haru's presence allowed both of them to relax and think about the situation logically. They were determined to get back to their friends.

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><p><strong>Until Next time! Read, Review, Or Just Do You. I do love to hear your feedback.<strong>

**PS - if you couldn't tell, I am going to try to update every Friday.**


	14. The Strength in the Light

**And so another week has gone by and it is time for another chapter update for this story. I somehow managed to write this along the week and balance my other papers for school. I have a 12 page paper due this Wednesday that I haven't started so I'll be doing that after this! Fun way to spend a Friday night...**

**Anyway some thank yous are in order.**

**Digi-fanCapp You always make me smile :D**

**Thanks to these awesome people for the follow/favorites!: lavenderkitten 322; Rina Dragonfly; liryla **

**^ You guys are the reason why I keep on writing my stories :) It makes me smile that you guys like the story enough to write reviews, follow, and or favorite. So have an extra thank you from Haru and me! ~Ganzyyy**

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><p>Chapter 13: The Strength in the Light<p>

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><p><strong>"May it be a light to you in dark places,<br>when all other lights go out."**

**- J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_**

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><p>Haru returned to the keychain once again. She allowed Kudamon to enter her memories and see what was happening. He realized that the others were even worse off than he thought. They were no longer together. They had gone off in different directions. Tai, Izzy, TK, Sora, and Kari were one group, but the others were nowhere else to be found. And on top of that Kari was sick, and Tai and Izzy were in a tight bind because of Machinedramon.<p>

He glanced over at Haru's resting spirit. He understood how much she wished she could be there for them especially Tai and Kari, but she couldn't waste her energy recklessly. And she understood that. It was why she returned and started to rest.

He could feel the belief that she had in Tai and all the others. She knew that they were going to overcome the obstacles placed on them. And when they were finished with Machinedramon, they would be coming to Piedmon and evidently to them. Kudamon could tell that Haru knew that she was needed most in their fight against Piedmon. There was a reason why he was the leader of the Dark Masters. He was the strongest of the four... easily. And he could feel her determination deep within her mind. She was ready. She was ready for freedom and revenge for the things Piedmon and the other Dark Masters had done to her and her friends.

_Oh Rue... _Kudamon thought to himself as he watched her float within the void of their key chains. The only reason they could see each other was through their unusual bond. He looked at her sleeping form. The white dress gently covering her fair skin. Her short blonde hair floating in every which direction in their weightless cage. Her face peaceful and her brown eyes closed in her slumber.

He wished that she could just stay that way - peaceful. He wished that she could remain worry free. She never had the time to mourn her parents' death. Kudamon understood that Haru thought she was weak because of the way she almost gave in to the darkness when she learned about her parents. But he knew... that if she was given the time, she would have bounced back one hundred percent.

He was actually worried about the consequences of the crest merging with her body. He had never actually seen that happen before. He knew that each of the DigiDestined held the attributes of their crests within them, but he wasn't sure about this. By placing the crest on her chest, he thought the power of it would simply chase the darkness away. He would have never thought it would join with her. He figured that her new found abilities had something to do with her crest joining with her heart. He wondered if the crest would cause problems for her in the future. He knew that she still needed to mourn, but he could tell that the crest was preventing her from doing so.

_I hope I did the right thing... _ He thought to himself. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He wasn't about to let his worry become Haru's. That just simply wasn't an option for him. She already had enough worry when it came to her friends that he didn't need to add to it. _I'll take full responsibility for whatever happens to you._

He continued to watch over Haru's sleeping form. Nothing seemed to change with her until she suddenly opened her eyes. _Haru? _Kudamon asked. He tried to touch her mind but he found it blocked off completely. _Rue? _He tried again, but again he was met by utter silence. It made him feel nervous. He looked closely at her brown eyes and he realized that her eyes were distant - blank. Her body began to glow a bright white color. The only strange thing about it this time was that Haru's emotions were empty when they should have been erratic. _Rue! _He called out to her but she was gone.

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><p>Haru was comfortable. She felt at peace while she slept. For the first few minutes of her rest, she could feel Kudamon sorting through her memories about what had happened when she was gone. She knew that he wouldn't look into anything she didn't want him to. And like she thought, almost as quickly as the searching started, it stopped.<p>

She was left alone, but she wasn't afraid of the feeling. She noticed she actually felt a calm feeling in this void. It allowed her to just be. No worries, no responsibilities. It felt like the darkness of this key chain was caressing her, easing her tense muscles. She felt herself, for the first time in a while, fall into an extremely deep sleep.

Within the darkness, she saw a faint light far, far away. Like a moth to a flame, she moved toward it. The closer she got, the brighter and wider it became. "Haru..." The light called out to her. She recognized the voice, but who was it. "Haru." The name came again. "I need you Haru." Haru moved a little faster. Eventually the entire area was beautiful and white. She smiled at the warmth. It reminded her of the loving feeling that Kudamon showed her. It was like the light was hugging her. "Haru, I found you."

Haru turned around and looked into the eyes of the little girl she considered a sister. "Kari..." Haru whispered surprised. She noticed that Kari was wearing a similar dress that she was. Haru's white dress was plain. It had spaghetti straps and flowed down to her ankles. Kari's dress was shorter - to her knees - and the fabric covered up to her neck and down both of her arms. "Are you okay?" Haru asked wondering why the little girl seemed to be in a similar situation that she was in.

"Everything is fine." Kari said smiling causing Haru to relax. "My fever is going away, and I am almost better."

"I'm glad." Haru said pulling her into a hug. It felt good to hold the girl in her arms again. She honestly didn't want to let go.

"Haru..." She pulled back to look at Kari when she heard the worry in the young girl's voice. "I need your help."

"Anything for my little sister." Haru said making Kari beam brightly. "What do you need?" She asked getting to the heart of the matter.

"I need your crest." Kari said. "I need your strength."

Haru frowned slightly, unsure of what to say. "I don't have the strength right now." She said honestly. It was the reason as to why she had been resting until then. The strange thing was that she still felt that she was in that deep sleep. "Kari, what is this place?"

Kari looked around with curious eyes the same way that Haru did. "I don't know either." She said with a small laugh. "All I kept thinking was: I want to see Haru. And then this place just appeared and you came in as well.

Haru felt the place again. It felt like Kari. It was warm and caring. There was that righteous feel to it that Kari always portrayed. Maybe this was Kari's heart. Could it be possible that Kari wanted to see Haru so badly that her own heart had called out to Haru's?

"Why do you need my help Kari?" She asked the young girl curiously.

"I... I just feel like there is something..." She paused and thought. Haru watched as the young girl's brow furrowed in thought. "I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen soon."

Haru could feel the girl's worry. She didn't respond right away. She had to think this through. This place was odd, and so was this situation. When she looked over herself, she noticed that she wasn't giving up any energy. "Kari... I think I have an idea." She said catching Kari's attention.

"You believe me then?" Kari asked and Haru nodded. "Then what's your idea?"

"Kari... I think this place is your heart." She said honestly. It would make sense since the girl's crest was Light and that's what she could feel in this place. "I think you called me here because you needed my help." At this Kari nodded excitedly. Haru smiled softly at Kari's actions. "Usually I would be using up a lot of my energy doing this, but I think because I'm with you, my energy is actually growing."

"What does that mean?" Kari asked confused.

"It means I can stay and help you with your battles." Haru stated. "I can help you if something bad is going to happen." Haru saw Kari begin to get excited. "But you need to know," she cut off Kari's excitement, "I can't leave this place within you. You'll have to call on me when you need me and I'll give you my strength."

"Thank you Haru." Kari said happily.

"There's something else." Haru said causing Kari to listen closely. "I don't know what will happen to you with me being here."

"What do you mean...?" Kari asked slowly, almost fearful.

"You are light, and I am strength." She whispered as she looked around at the beautiful white light. "My spirit, my heart, is now in your heart. I don't know what it will do to your body."

Kari frowned but then smiled softly at the older girl she saw as a sister. "Don't worry about that." Haru shook her head. How could she not worry? "I feel no threat coming from you or your strength. In fact, my body feels better than ever."

Haru sighed, but a small smile graced her lips. "Then I will stay for the time being."

"Thank you, Haru." Kari said as her image began to fade. She was probably beginning to wake up, but that meant that she would have to leave Haru alone. At least this time she was surrounded by light instead of darkness.

"What's going on out there?" She wondered aloud. Her body floated as if she was in a pool. It almost felt like water was moving her body around.

She sighed as she flipped over onto her stomach. "Ugh... I'm bored..." She mumbled to no one in particular. This was worse than the keychain. At least there she had Kudamon to talk to. Haru frowned at the thought of her partner. He must be worried about her. She had disappeared again without telling him. She sat cross legged in the floating void waiting for Kari to call for her.

Suddenly Haru was overcome with sadness. She blinked several times as her vision began to shift between the white void and what Kari was seeing. Haru saw the Numemon being forced into labor by the WaruMonzaemon and she felt their pain along with Kari's sadness. It kicked her powers into overdrive, and she could feel her power seeping out into the space within Kari's heart. Everything began to glow and a warmth surrounded her. Her powers were mixing with Kari's and surprisingly she felt no weakness coming from her own body.

"Let's help the Numemon." Haru whispered to the air. She felt Kari's determination at her statement. They freed the Numemon from what Haru could tell, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Haru watched from behind Kari's eyes as the Numemon were about to be beaten. "No!" Haru declared seeing the attack coming. Her power burst forth again. "Queen Kari..." Haru whispered, her eyes turning distant again. "I shall be your knight... now together..."

They forced WaruMonzaemon back once the others were able to digivolve, but Haru's powers continued to mix with Kari's. Kari's love and devotion to the other Digimon were what kept Haru's powers going. Even if she wanted it to stop, she couldn't.

"Haru?" Haru looked up to see Kari standing there again. Her eyes became focused again. "Can you feel Tai and Izzy?"

Haru closed her eyes and nodded. She could feel the two DigiDestined not too far from them. She reopened her eyes. "Yes. I'll help you reach them." She responded as she felt the Crest of Light mixing with her Crest of Strength.

Kari smiled at her. "Thank you."

"No problem, Kari. Wherever you go, I shall follow." Kari smiled at Haru and disappeared, leaving Haru alone to her thoughts once again. It was odd. It was like Haru was in tune with Kari's emotions and the two's souls were connected. However, she couldn't focus too much on those thoughts because she needed to keep her focus on Tai and Izzy's presence, but her eyes widened in fear.

"KARI!" Haru suddenly shouted as she felt the presence of the Machinedramon. "He's coming! Get ready! I'll give you as much energy as I can!"

But everything just happened so quickly. Before she knew it, everyone was defeated despite her giving them energy. _No..._ she thought. She couldn't help. She watched through Kari's eyes as the young girl started walking toward Machinedramon. "Kari? What are you doing?" But she could feel Kari's determination coursing through her body. She felt her energy begin to surge.

She looked out through Kari's eyes. She stared wide eyed as the Numemon attacked Machinedramon. They were trying to protect Kari. But to Haru's horror, she watched as the Numemon were destroyed. Haru felt like she was in a daze. Her eyes dulled as she was overcome with so many emotions. The pain Kari felt from losing a friend reminded her of Piximon's death. "NO!" Haru shouted as she let out a burst of energy similar to when Kudamon digivolved into his mega form. The surge caused Kari to faint, but Agumon to warpdigivolve into WarGreymon.

When Kari fainted, Haru was ejected from her body. She stood there beside Tai and Kari and watched as WarGreymon was able to slice through Machinedramon. She smiled knowing that there was only one more Dark Master left to take care of. Slowly the mega dissolved into data and the area began to fall apart and reconfigure. She turned and watched the others.

"Thank you Haru..." Kari mumbled. Tai looked down at Kari confused.

Haru gently touched the young girl's cheek and kissed her forehead. She felt an evil feeling crawl up her spine. _Piedmon... _She growled as she returned to see him laughing with excitement.

"And so it begins..." He said with an excited smirk as he held her keychain up in front of his face. "It's almost time for the Big Finale!" Another laugh escaped his lips. He was giddy for some sort of action.

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><p><strong>And so another chapter has been added to The Strength of the Heart. See you all next Friday 3<strong>


	15. Entrapment

**This took much too long for me to write, and I apologize for that. But almost 4,000 words later and 9 pages in Microsoft Word I finished the fourteenth chapter of The Strength of the Heart. There are also a few people that I want to thank before we get started...**

_A big thank you to** Narniagirl2. **Without you, it probably would have taken a few more weeks to get this update out._

_**hannah-dimond: **Thanks for following the story!_

_**lonelylight: **Thanks for the follow and favorite this story and the favorite of A Very DigiDestined Halloween!_

_**Digi-fanCapp: **As always thank you for the review :) Sorry you have to put up with the long updates..._

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><p><strong>Chapter 14: Entrapment <strong>

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><p><strong>"She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love... That it should be done from necessity, not without exhausting all other options. That it should be done for people who need your strength because they don't have enough of their own." - Veronica Roth, <em>Allegiant <em>**

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><p>Haru frowned from within the keychain once again. Piedmon was all too giddy about the situation becoming like this. She still couldn't understand how he could simply not care that his other companions were gone. She didn't want to call them his friends because friends would never sit idly by while one of them was destroyed. Companion also seemed like too warm of a word to describe their lot. Perhaps comrade? No... comrades would protect each other. She pursed her lips. They acted more like acquaintances even though they took over the Digital World together. They didn't care what happened to each other.<p>

_What does it matter how they see each other? _Kudamon thought to her with a sigh. _What matters right now is that the others are coming here and we need to think of a strategy._

Haru looked away from the outside world and toward her Digimon partner. _You're right. _She responded. _I just wish there was some way that we could get out of this key chain... It would be much easier to have a physical body again._

Kudamon shook his head. _That wouldn't be plausible. _He began. _The only way we can escape from here is if Piedmon allowed it. _

Haru understood that. _Fat chance that will happen... _Her thoughts were sarcastic as she thought about all the times he was intrigued by her. _We're too interesting of characters for him to let us go. _A faint thought passed through her mind as she thought of what would happen if the others failed. They'd be stuck in key chains forever. She quickly hid the seed of doubt from her partner. Now was not the time to be pessimistic.

_So what do we do? _Kudamon wondered.

_For now... _Haru paused as she moved to look back outside the key chain. _We do whatever we can to stall him meeting Tai's group._

Kudamon frowned. _Why? The quicker the battle ends the better..._

Haru shook her head. _Tai and Agumon need to recover still. _She explained and Kudamon nodded in understanding. Agumon had been forcibly digivolved into WarGreymon by Haru and Kari's combined strength to defeat Machinedramon. Both would need some rest. _And Piedmon is strong. We both know that. WarGreymon alone is not going to be able to stop him. All of the DigiDestined are going to be necessary. We need to stop him from going out until they can all meet back together. _She stated with determination.

_What if they don't all come? _Kudamon asked.

It was the same question that had been nagging at the back of her mind, but she had to believe in them even if she didn't really know them. If they didn't come for her, they would come to save the Digital World and their home. _They'll come... _She said looking out and seeing Mimi and Joe in the telescope. _They understand what they have to do... _Kudamon simply nodded in understanding as Piedmon's evil laugh filled the room.

"That's right." He said as he watched the two DigiDestined. "Round up as many as you want. The more the merrier. It's nice having friends around to share your last moments with." He laughed again.

Kudamon shivered at the sound. _What's going on? _He asked.

Haru licked her lips as she looked out. _It seems as though Mimi and Joe are gathering other Digimon..._

_Perhaps they are the friends that they have made on their journey. _Kudamon explained.

Haru smiled sadly. _It seems as though we have missed a lot by not joining them at the beginning._

_But I was not with the others. I was with Gennai... _Kudamon said. _I wouldn't have been there to greet you._

Haru smiled and laughed lightly. _You're right. I'm glad we met the way we did._

"How delightfully entertaining this is." Piedmon said cheerily, but then his voice turned dark sending a shiver through Haru's soul. "I always get so excited before a tragedy strikes."

Kudamon felt her worry. _Should we intervene now? _He pressed.

Haru shook her head. _Not yet. _Secretly she smiled because she was the one that was going to be doing the talking. _He's not ready to move yet. He's just watching Tai's group now. I think we're still safe. _Haru said when she noticed that T.K. and Kari were praying to the Numemon memorial that they made. She was surprised at how quickly they reached the top of the mountain, but then again... it seemed like this whole world had turned upside down when the Dark Masters took over. Nothing really made sense anymore, but this was her first time here. Maybe it was always this dysfunctional.

"Hmph! Remarkable little specimens." Piedmon spoke again. "I'm really rather embarrassed that they made it this far."

"Oh please... _please_, Lord Piedmon. Let me punish them." LadyDevimon says appearing from the ceiling. The sound of her voice gave Haru goose bumps.

"Hm..." Piedmon let the word hang. He reached down to his belt and lifted Haru up to his face. The key chain swayed slightly due to the sudden movement. He eyed his little trophy curiously. "What would you have me do Little One?" He asked curiously. "Shall I grace your friends with my appearance or shall I wait a little longer?"

Haru frowned. She didn't want Piedmon _or_ LadyDevimon to go after her friends, but she knew they still needed time and LadyDevimon was only an Ultimate while Piedmon was a Mega. _"You should send LadyDevimon..." _She finally relented - voicing her thoughts to him.

"Oh?" His eyes widened in interest that she had actually answered with words. Lately she had just been glowing at him and it was getting rather annoying. "So you want to delay the demise of your friends?" He laughed with glee at the girl's dark thoughts.

Haru cringed. _"She will lose, but it will be like an appetizer of what is to come for them." _She hated that she had actually said those words aloud. It felt like there was bile forming at the back of her throat.

"Very well," he looked away from the key chain and back at LadyDevimon, "but try to make it quick and relatively painful." He said to the ultimate.

LadyDevimon glared at the key chain in her lord's hand. How dare that human occupy his mind and not she. However, she kept her thoughts to herself and did what she was told. She would give those humans a taste of her rage. Piedmon hummed in glee as he attached Haru back to his belt.

_Rue... are you okay? _Kudamon asked feeling her disgust.

_I'll be fine... _She whispered. Her voice was quiet. _I just want them to be okay. I hope they can handle LadyDevimon._

_They should be fine. _Kudamon explained.

Haru ignored the fact that he had used the word "should" and let his words give her hope. They will be okay, she told herself. As much as she wanted to go to them and help, she knew she would have to conserve her energy for when Piedmon decided to make his move.

Piedmon watched the battle with interest, but Haru could tell that he was tiring of it from the look on his face. "Well, I've had enough of this fight." Piedmon said in a bored tone, but then he seemed to perk up. "Let's just see how our little drama is unraveling, hah!" He turned away from the battle and moved his telescope to look in Mimi and Joe's direction. Haru noticed that they were still building an army of friends. Friends would be an important key to this upcoming battle. "Oh... such a bore there as well." When Piedmon looked back at the DigiDestined fighting LadyDevimon, he frowned. He lifted Haru's key chain again and this time she had an extra bad feeling. "It's time for the main event." A dark smirk flashed across his face.

Haru felt fear ripple through her. They weren't ready yet! _"LadyDevimon is still fighting them." _She stated hoping that would delay his departure.

Piedmon simply stared at her with a bored expression and glanced back in that direction. "She's going to lose. Just like you said." He stated in a bored tone. "It was fun while it lasted."

_"But don't you want to wait until they are all together?" _She tried again. _"And destroy them at their strongest?"_

Piedmon laughed gleefully. "Oh, my interesting little thing..." He moved his hand back and forth causing her key chain to do the same. The movement made it difficult for Haru to focus on his face. "I see what you are trying to do. You're just trying to delay the inevitable, but your friends have escaped their fate long enough." He glared at her. "It's time."

_"NO!" _She shouted causing her key chain to glow.

Piedmon glowered at her as he shielded his eyes. "Now... now..." He said darkly. "We can't have any of _that_ going on while I play with your friends..."

_"What...?" _Haru asked with wide eyes. She could feel the knot tightening in her stomach. What was he going to do to her?

"I want you to watch." He said with a sick smile. "There won't be any helping tonight, Little One."

Haru glared at him. Although he couldn't see the glare, he could see the slight glow surrounding her key chain. _"You can't stop me." _She declared.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked, but his only response was the glowing of the key chain. "Very well..." He said with all amusement leaving his voice and face. "I think your key chain is getting rather boring, don't you think?" He asked. "We will have to change that." He raised his hand in front of her face. "Clown Trick..."

Haru gasped as she realized what he was about to do, and she couldn't do anything to prevent it. Five red rings appeared - one at each of his finger tips. The rings moved toward her. She wanted to run, to move, _something_... but she was trapped. The rings encircled her waist, wrists, and ankles.

_Haru! _Kudamon panicked. The rings weren't just surrounding the physical key chain, but also her spirit.

_What is this? _She asked panicked as she tried to steady her breathing. She looked up at Piedmon who seemed overly content with his new idea. She felt deep within her ready to yell at him, but when she opened her mouth to send her thoughts, the rings suddenly tightened causing a burning sensation to course through her body.

_Haru! _Kudamon yelled again as she yelled out in pain.

Her breathing was labored. Every time she tried to reach within herself to pull out her powers, she felt the rings tighten around her body. She was blocked off completely. She really was trapped in this key chain now.

Piedmon laughed. "I wouldn't try that again..." And again he smirked. "I don't want my precious key chain to be damaged now would I?" He questioned as he placed her back on his belt. "Now!" He stood and stretched. "Be a good little girl and watch as I destroy your friends!" He began his descent to where the others were still battling LadyDevimon.

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><p>Haru felt helpless. She could only watch. She was really trapped now. Her eyes widened in fear. <em>Kudamon... <em> She was barely audible. _What do I do? _She felt tears come to her eyes. _I... I can't help them._

Kudamon couldn't directly touch her mind without the rings hurting both of them. He could voice his thoughts, but he couldn't envelope her with his presence. _Everything is going to be okay. _He said seriously.

She turned to him. The first couple of tears began to fall. _How do you know?_

He smiled softly at her. _Because before you became a DigiDestined, they had already defeated many strong enemies. _He noticed that there was no change in her demeanor. _They did that without your powers, Haru. They will find a way._

Haru saw the seriousness in Kudamon's eyes and quickly wiped the tears from her face. _Right. _She said steadying her breathing. She would wait. She knew that they would win, and that she would eventually be freed.

So she waited. And she watched as Piedmon walked up to Tai, Izzy, and Kari. She hadn't realized that the others had left. There were only three to fight against Piedmon, a mega. Haru felt her mouth go dry. This was not a good situation.

"Piedmon!" Tai yelled. Agumon had already digivolved to WarGreymon. "Where's Haru and Kudamon!" He glared at the mega.

Haru's eyes widened. She didn't think he would call out for her right away. Despite the situation she was in, she felt a smile tug at her lips. _Stupid Tai... always worrying about others before himself._

_He's a good friend. _Kudamon said equally surprised.

Piedmon laughed. He lifted both Haru and Kudamon's key chains to dangle them in front of her friends. "Oh! You must mean these two lovely key chains I have! They are just the beginning of a lovely collection I desire to have. Don't you think they're just wonderful?" He asked with another laugh.

Izzy was the one that realized that he had done something extra to Haru's key chain. "Tai..." He said swallowing trying to clear his throat. He wondered if that was the reason for Haru's sudden absence. His friend glanced back at him. "Haru's in trouble..." He pointed out the red rings encircling the girl that were not present on Kudamon. Tai's eyes widened in shock and fear.

Kari who had heard what Izzy said noticed the problem. She felt anger well up inside her. "What did you do to Haru!" She yelled while Gatomon tried to stop her. It was not wise to anger the Dark Master.

Piedmon sighed dramatically as he spun Haru's key chain around his finger. He flipped her up so that she flew into the air, but he easily caught her and looked at her. "Do you mean my Clown Trick?" He asked in a bored tone, but his eyes held a dark glint to them. "I got annoyed with her constant meddling." His voice now mimicked the look in his eyes. "So I put an end to it."

"Tai!" WarGreymon called back to his partner. Tai's fists were clenched at his side and shaking slightly with all the emotions. He knew that he should hold out on fighting, but they needed to get Haru away from Piedmon. They needed to stall until the others arrived. "What do you want me to do?" WarGreymon tried again.

"Get him!" Tai yelled furiously.

"It will be my pleasure!" WarGreymon called as he lunged to attack Piedmon causing the other mega to laugh excitedly. "Mega Claw!" WarGreymon yelled as he jabbed at Piedmon who easily dodged the other mega's attempts. However, WarGreymon managed to land a kick to Piedmon's midsection to send him flying into a rock formation. The impact caused the rocks to break and crumble. Haru and Kudamon from inside the keychain were getting tossed around at the rough movements.

"I think we won!" Tai yelled excitedly, but those thoughts were immediately put to rest when Piedmon began to laugh.

"Thank you for the sparring match WarGreymon." Piedmon said as he appeared from the dust. "Now I'm ready for the main event." Haru looked at Kudamon who nodded at her. It was his way of telling her that everything was going to be alright. But she couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to go very wrong.

"Oh no!" Tai said in despair.

Piedmon dropped down to the ground, and began walking toward the three and their Digimon. "Once upon a time, there were these Digidestined and then Piedmon destroyed them all. The end!"

_How dare he! _Haru became angry, but when her emotions, especially anger, spiked then her powers tended to fluctuate. The energy she gave off began to make the rings around her tighten. She was too focused on outside to even notice the impending attack. _Haru, you must calm down. _Kudamon said seriously. _If not, you will just further damage your body. _Haru gulped as she took a long deep breath to calm herself.

"No offense to your story telling skills but I'd like it better if your ending were different." Izzy responded. WarGreymon protectively landed between Piedmon and the DigiDestined. "It will be!" He declared.

"We can't win unless we're all together!" Kari called out in fear with her hand clenched in front of her chest.

"Where are they?" Tai asked with sweat forming on his brow. Haru tried to sense the others, but every time she tried... she felt the heat of the rings around her body. She started to doubt that the others were ever going to come. _They'll come, _was Kudamon's reassuring voice at the back of her mind.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon spun at a destructive speed and flew at Piedmon, but the mega easily flipped over the attack causing WarGreymon to the crash into the rocks he had just kicked Piedmon into earlier. Frustrated WarGreymon appeared from dust he caused. Piedmon simply stared him down with a smile and dark chuckle.

"He's tough." Gatomon stated the obvious.

"We should all fight." Kari offered.

"Everyone stay where you are." Tai said holding an arm out telling them not to move.

"But Tai!" Kari countered. "Why not?"

"The Digimon are still too tired from our fight with LadyDevimon." He said turning to look at her. "We have to wait until we're at full strength and Matt and the others rejoin us."

WarGreymon stood from his kneeling position. "I hope it's soon." He said as Piedmon laughed.

_This is my fault. _Haru thought as Piedmon jumped into the air causing her to jolt slightly.

"Trump Sword!" He called as he pulled out four long swords.

_How could this be your fault? _Kudamon frowned.

Piedmon threw the swords at WarGreymon, but the mega was only able to deflect the first two.

_I was the one that told Piedmon to send out LadyDevimon. _She said with wide eyes. _I'm the reason the others are too tired to help Tai and WarGreymon._

The second two swords hit their mark causing WarGreymon to yell out in pain. Even after the swords were deflected or made contact, they continued to fly through the air under Piedmon's control.

_If she hadn't gone, then Piedmon himself would have. _Kudamon said rather angrily. How could she blame herself for this. _You made a decision, and it gave the others extra time to get here. The results would be the same if not worse. _But Haru, deep down, still felt guilt.

"WarGreymon's exhausted!" Izzy said as the mega fell to his knees.

"I can't watch anymore." Kari said as she covered her eyes with her hands.

"Stay tough." Tai said knowing the struggle his partner was going through.

WarGreymon managed to get back to his feet, but the onslaught of Piedmon's swords caused his one knee to buckle and hit the ground again. Piedmon called back his swords and WarGreymon could not get to his feet.

"Please Izzy, let me help WarGreymon!" Tentomon tried.

"No!" Tai said defiantly.

"WarGreymon needs help!" Izzy tried as well.

WarGreymon struggled getting to his feet as Piedmon walked toward him laughing. "Trump Sword." Piedmon declared as he flung his arm up causing a powerful gust of wind and rocks to fly toward Tai. To protect his friend and partner, WarGreymon got in the way, but both were sent flying backwards.

_Tai! _Haru yelled with wide eyes. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to control her emotions.

Tai landed painfully on his back. "Get up Tai!" Kari called to her older brother.

"Hey Tai!" Izzy said running toward Tai to help.

"Izzy!" He sat up slowly. "Stop!" He yelled causing his friend to stop running in disbelief. Tai managed to get to his knees. "You stay there. Protect Kari."

Piedmon sent another blast toward Tai and WarGreymon. The mega tried to protect his partner, but Tai was still hit with part of the blast sending him flying again. WarGreymon, exhausted, once again fell to a knee.

_Oh no... _ Haru whispered as she gripped at the fabric of her white dress. Her blonde hair covered her facial features, but Kudamon could see the pain that she was in. He just hoped that she would not do anything rash.

"Tai look, I know it's important for me to stay here and protect Kari, but in the meantime who's going to protect you?" Izzy asked.

"He tends to be a bit stubborn, doesn't he?" Tentomon asked raising a pincer.

"Don't worry about me." Tai said getting to his knees again. "I'm fine. I've got him right where I want him. He's exhausted." However, it was Tai's voice that was exhausted and he did a poor job of hiding that fact.

"But I can help you."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"That's funny. General Custard said the exact same thing at Little Big Horn."

"Thanks for the history lesson." Tai said annoyed.

"Alright then, just one thing, how come every time I ask, you never let me join in on the fight?" Izzy yelled in frustration.

"Clown trick!" Piedmon called. He raised his hands above his head and brought them down to send another powerful blast of energy toward WarGreymon.

"WarGreymon's been hit!" Kari called out in shock. WarGreymon's armor fell apart as he was knocked onto his back.

"No... WarGreymon..." Tai called out as he reached a hand toward his partner, but he ended up falling face first to the ground.

_TAI! _Haru screamed and she felt the burning sensation again. Her body shook in pain, but that was nothing compared to the pain in her chest. Her powers continued to fluctuate and the rings continued to tighten.

_Haru! Stop it! _Kudamon begged. _You have to stop!_

"Get up!" Izzy shouted at his friends. Haru looked over at the genius with wild eyes. Her breathing was ragged and her body was shaking with emotion and pain.

"Right, now who should be next?" Piedmon asked looking at Izzy and Kari.

_No... not them too... _She mumbled. And although her voice was low, her eyes continued to hold that crazed look and her powers continued to rise. Kudamon could see the crest glowing on her skin, and he knew that she was far too gone to stop her. _ENOUGH! _She screamed as her powers burst forth. The glow was so bright that it stopped Piedmon in his tracks.

"What the?!" He looked down in surprise. He could see the bright white of Haru's powers, and had originally thought that his Clown Trick had faded. To his surprise, the rings were so tight around the key chain that it was physically beginning to burn. He glared at it and pulled it roughly from his belt.

"How dare you damage my collection!" He spat. He did not care that she was hurting herself. He was worried about the finished product that was her key chain. "I'll just have to make sure you can't function." He decided.

Haru could not hear a word that he was saying. Her only thought was protecting her friends, and they needed her. Even the pain was becoming less in her mind even though her body and spirit were paying the price.

Piedmon held up his hand and narrowed his eyes. "Clown Trick," his annoyance apparent in his tone. Instead of the burning sensation, electricity coursed through her body. She felt her body tense in pain - a pain so intense she felt her mind slipping away.

_Haru, stay with me! _She could hear Kudamon in the background, but she could not see him anymore.

"Haru!" She could just hear Izzy and Kari's voices calling to her.

And slowly... quietly... everything went black.

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><p><strong>So... what do you guys think? I left it at a bit of a cliff hanger of sorts. If anyone has any questions feel free to write a review and I will be more than happy to explain anything. If you guys think I should change anything as well, I am open to opinions. I will always listen to people who can help me improve. :) Until next time!<strong>

**Also... I want to put something fun at the end of the chapters. So I can interact with all my followers more. Like I want to do polls or something. What do you guys think?**


	16. Piedmon's Last Jest

Wow... so nothing I do can apologize for my absence. It was a combination of a crap ton of homework and actual work. I barely had any me time that I could spend on things I enjoy. But here is the 15th chapter of this story. And I am happy/sad to announce that we are slowly moving toward the end of this story. This will be the first chapter story that I ever finished. Though not yet of course :)

Thank you to all those who favorite/follow! I know there were three of you, but I can't find my email notifications!

And I promised to answer your questions:

**Digi-fanCatt**: Okay! First of all yes... you would think Haru would learn her lesson but she doesn't. She's a bit stubborn at times. You could almost say that she's afraid to lose anyone else after what happened with her parents. Now for the key chain... So her key chain physically doesn't actually change if that's what you mean by her expressions changing. I probably should have explained this whole thing better when I first put her in there. I made her a little special since the crest physically merged with her body in the very beginning of the story. When I write about her expressions I am actually talking about her spirit's emotions and the only thing that Piedmon sees is the glow of the key chain in response to her emotions. That was so much longer than it needed to be, but I hope this helps. Her expression on her keychain is a glare.

What you'll see in this next chapter is that the other's do not remember being in the key chains since Tai mentions having a weird dream in the show. She remembers because of her crest. Kudamon also remembers. They communicate while in the key chain because of their strong bond.

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><p><strong>Chapter 15: Piedmon's Last Jest<strong>

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><p>When I despair,<br>I remember that all through history  
>the way of truth and love have always won.<br>There have been tyrants and murderers,  
>and for a time, they can seem invincible,<br>but in the end, they always fall.  
>Always.<p>

- Mahatma Gandhi

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><p>Following her outburst against Piedmon, Haru passed out. The pain that Piedmon's Clown Trick inflicted on her was too much to handle. She was in pain, and she was afraid. She wanted to block out the outside world. She wanted nothing to do with it. If she let it in, she knew that she would feel the pain again. She wanted to forget, so she pushed everything from her mind as best she could.<p>

She managed to avoid the thoughts, but the outside world seemed to have other ideas. She could not keep it out. It pushed through the darkness she tried to keep herself in. It was bits and pieces. A laugh - unpleasant to the ears. It made her cringe. A vision of an evil clown crossed from behind her eyelids. _Piedmon..._ her mind spat at the image and forced it away.

But the image returned as his voice touched her ears. "What's the matter? Don't want to play with Uncle Piedmon anymore?" Who was he talking to? Was he talking to her? Why would anyone want to play with him?

A random voice touched her ears. "Looks like the jokes on you Piedmon," a vision of a large wolf like creature flashed within her head, and her mind offered a name to it: MetalGarurumon. But something made Haru feel unease about it all.

"I'm just getting started!" The evil clown's words echoed through her. It sent dread deep into her soul. Something was very much wrong. She remembered a white sheet. A memory? She wondered as she let it creep up to her. She saw herself holding a ferret like creature in her arms. He was weak and she was upset. And then there was the white sheet again. That Piedmon had thrown it on her once, but when she remembered the electricity that came with it, she pushed it away. Was that what he was doing to that other thing... to MetalGarurumon? "TADA!" Piedmon yelled again. Haru kept herself as closed off as possible, but his voice still reached her. That one saying, made her afraid for whoever else was out there.

"What did you do to Tai and Matt PIedmon?" This was another voice that touched her ears. A vision of a boy her age. He was shorter like she was and had thick maroon colored hair with black eyes. What was his name? She wondered. Izzy, her mind offered. But then an image of Tai crossed through her mind. Something's wrong with Tai? She wondered. Izzy's statement put her more on edge. An image of the woman coming to get her the night before summer camp crossed her mind. She panicked and tried to dive deeper into herself, away from the outside world. She didn't want to lose anymore.

"Go Izzy!" A picture of a boy with glasses and blue hair touched her mind. "Joe!" That was Izzy again. "TK catch!" That was Sora... She loved Sora like an older sister. She didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She just wanted all of this to stop.

She blocked everything out, but she was becoming ever more aware of the presence of others around her. She could feel them near her and it started to draw her out.

"Ha..." A voice was calling out to her. No... she didn't want to go back. She couldn't. It would hurt. "Haru..." But she recognized this voice. Who was it again? "Haru!" A caring voice. One that protected her. "HARU!" Her squeezed her eyes shut. "Please Haru!"

Her eyes shot open and there was the little ferret Digimon. "Kudamon..."

Kudamon tried not to look at the burns on her body. He could tell that she was in pain, but they needed her one last time. "Kari needs your help." He urged. He knew that Piedmon was close to winning and if they failed, it would truly be game over.

"Kari?" Haru asked in a daze. What was wrong with Kari? She should be at home resting so she gets better. She was also aware of a pain that her body was trying to push out of her mind. She didn't want to think about anything right now.

But before she could drift off again an urgent and worried voice hit her ears, "TK! Kari!" She could not remember the name of this voice, but it shocked her awake. It was like she saw everything at once. Kari and TK falling from the sky. She noticed that the red rings of Piedmon's Clown Trick were no longer around her. She felt the pain of the burns on her body from her previous outburst and it caused her throat to clench and her breathing to spike. But she had the power to move freely again. She wasn't sure how much of it she had left, but she had to try.

She saw TK holding onto Matt's keychain and quickly moved to it. She somehow heard TK's voice. Maybe it was because of her heightened abilities in this panicked moment, but she didn't question it at the time. _I'm sorry I let you down Matt! Wait a second! Matt! What would he say? _His voice echoed to her.

She knew what she had to do. She entered Matt's keychain and saw him floating like she had but he was in a slumber. She touched him and he awoke. He looked at Haru confused, but she didn't have time. She touched his chest to convey TK's words to him. She then gave him an image of what was happening. Matt didn't need any prompting of what to do next. _TK, don't ever give up, _he told his little brother.

_Matt? _TK's voice was obviously surprised, but Haru urged Matt to continue.

_You can do it TK. I have faith in you, but it won't help if you don't have faith in yourself. No matter what happens, you have to fight to the very end. _She made sure all of Matt's words were conveyed.

"I promise you Matt. I'll never give up the fight." Haru smiled as her energy depleted and she faded away back into her own keychain. The exhaustion caused her to sleep again, but she could feel Kudamon right beside her.

Kudamon awoke with the other DigiDestined and Digimon. Their time in the keychain was over. He stretched his legs, and relief filled him as he felt the rocks under his paws. However, his moment of bliss was cut short when a massive crowd of Vilemon came toward everyone. "We're surrounded!" One of the other DigiDestined yelled. "We can't escape!" Kudamon knew from Haru's memories that this one was Izzy.

"Come on! Toughen up!" A very young boy pepped everyone's spirits up.

"I'm with you TK," what looked like his older brother announced.

"Our only chance is if we all combine our powers together, but the problem is we're still missing some of our friends." Tai said to everyone.

"Wait for me!" Kudamon heard a young girl call out. "Sorry we're late!"

"It's Mimi!" Kudamon recognized this girl from Haru's memories. Her name was Sora.

"Are we too late for the party?" Lilymon asked with a smile.

"Alright gang! Give them the full Digimon attack!" Tai announced.

Kudamon was ready for some action, but he couldn't find Haru. He cursed himself for being more interested in being on ground instead of with his partner. His memories from inside the keychain felt a little muddled for some reason, but he remembered the injuries she had sustained and the energy she had given up. While the others attacked the Vilemon, Kudamon searched for Haru. He found her lying unconscious to the side of some rocks. She must have ended up there when they were brought back to their original size. "Haru!" He yelled as he ran over. The shout caught the attention of Izzy. "Haru wake up!"

"What's wrong with her?" Izzy asked concerned as battles were erupting around them.

"She used a lot of her energy to get Matt's message to TK." Kudamon explained though he doubted the boy would understand. "The Clown Trick tightened around her and..." Kudamon used his paws to pull up her sleeve to reveal an ugly burn around her wrist.

"Joe!" Izzy called over Joe who looked at her.

"I have some medicine that might help." Joe said going through his bag. "But let's get her somewhere safer first." Izzy and Joe picked her up and carried her behind a rock formation. "Where else is she hurt?"

"Both wrists, both ankles, and her stomach." Kudamon said as Joe quickly went applying the medicine and the gauze. "Is she going to be okay?"

Izzy took off his glove and placed two fingers on her neck. He frowned as he concentrated on counting. "Her pulse is normal." He told Joe.

Joe nodded as he finished wrapping her second wrist. "The burns aren't as bad as they seem. Her pulse is strong and so is her breathing." He began wrapping her first ankle. "I don't think she's in any danger."

"Then why won't she wake up?" Kudamon pressed getting worried as he gently shook Haru but to no avail.

"It might be the shock of the situation." Joe thought aloud. "She's also been in that key chain for a very long time. That might also have something to do with it." He turned to Izzy when he finished wrapping Haru's second ankle. "Can you help me lift her forward?"

Izzy nodded. He wrapped an arm around Haru's shoulder. He had placed her so that her back was leaning against a rock. He gently pulled her forward so that Joe could reach her back. Joe quickly applied the medicine and began wrapping the wound. When he was done, he helped Izzy lean her back down.

As Izzy pulled his hands away, Haru's eyes shot open. They were filled with fear. Her hand grabbed his so tightly that he winced in pain. Her breathing became rapid as her eyes looked all around like a trapped wild animal.

"Haru!" Kudamon looked into her eyes, but she didn't focus on him. "It's me Kudamon."

"Haru, you have to calm down!" Joe panicked slightly as her breathing turned into gasps of air. "I think she's having a panic attack!"

Kudamon, Tentomon, and Gomamon began to glow white. Izzy looked down and noticed that his Digivice was glowing. He looked down at Haru and noticed that there was an intense white light coming from her chest. He looked over at his partner and noticed that he was already at his Champion level.

"Is she doing this?" Izzy asked as Joe continued his attempts to calm her down.

"You have to stop her!" Reppamon begged. He felt himself digivolving again.

Izzy and Joe noticed their crests glowing now. They looked at each other confused and worried. They didn't know how to calm her down. Reppamon was now Chirinmon. Ikkakumon digivolved into Zudomon and Kabuterimon digivolved into MegaKabuterimon.

"Volkan's Hammer!" Zudomon shouted slamming his hammer into the ground for an attack that took out a few Vilemon.

"Most impressive." Piedmon said looking over at them. He noticed the light coming from Haru. "Trump Sword!" He shouted and threw his swords in her direction.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon called out as he sent an electric blast that disintegrated the swords.

Zudomon and MegaKabuterimon already went to fight and were no longer affected by her energy though they were getting a boost from Izzy and Joe being so close. "Please stop her!" He begged again as he felt himself digivolving to mega. "She's trying to force me into my mega form. She doesn't have the strength for that!"

Izzy wrenched his hand free and grabbed Haru's face - forcing her to look into his eyes. He could see how wild and afraid she was. "Haru..." He said softly. Her body stopped shaking. Izzy wished that Tai or Kari were close by. They could calm her down better than he could. They knew her. He only heard her voice a few times. But he had to try something. "It's Izzy." Her eyes stopped shaking and they steadied on his but they were still wild.

"It's okay now," he kept his voice soft and calm. "You're not with Piedmon anymore."

"I'm... not...?" Her breathing was starting to slow and she was beginning to get an understanding of her surroundings.

"No," he smiled awkwardly. "You helped TK get us all away from him. You don't have the rings on you anymore. And Joe applied medicine so that these burns will heal." He pulled down her sleeve to show her the bandages and prove to her that she was free.

Haru's lip trembled. "Where's Kudamon?"

Izzy smiled brightly this time because she was no longer lost in her fear. She wanted to make sure that her partner was okay. "Well... he's not Kudamon right now..."

"What?" She sat up slowly. She was in control again, and the light in her chest died down. She looked over at Chirinmon and stood on shaky legs. "Whoa... I almost forgot what it was like to walk..." She chuckled as she hugged Chirinmon. "You're okay." She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"As are you..." He nudged her slightly with his head.

She looked over at the battle. "Go..." She whispered. This time her entire body glowed softly.

"With pleasure." Chirinmon said with a nod and flew to help the others.

Her energy died down and she swayed slightly. She felt two sets of arms hold her up. She smiled slightly at Izzy and Joe. "Thank you. Both of you." She was so tired that it was hard to keep up her hyper and happy personality.

"Thank you." Joe said patting her head slightly - like an older brother would his younger sister. "You've done a lot for us."

Haru shrugged. "I only amplified your own abilities. I didn't do much."

"That was enough." Izzy said seriously. "Now let's finish this. Together. All nine of us."

"All of us together!" Haru exclaimed with a slight laugh. She was glad to finally be with everyone solidly. To stand side by side with them.

She watched as Lilymon attacked Piedmon with her Flower Cannon. Piedmon was able to block it with a shield. He threw one of his white sheets. Haru guessed that he wanted to turn them to key chains again. But Angewomon used her Celestial Arrow to pierce through it causing Piedmon to jump out of the way. Garudumon used her Wing Blade to attack Piedmon and some VIlemon. Since he was landing when the attack hit, he was sent flying. He called out in pain.

"Gate of Destiny!" MangaAngemon used his sword to draw a circle in the sky. It solidified, as it spun, into a golden colored gate. When it stopped spinning, It opened showing a bright light. The Vilemon began to be sucked into the gate. Everyone stared in awe.

"Hey! Remember us?" WarGreymon asked. "Terra Force!" He called sending his powerful attack at Piedmon. MetalGarurumon sent out his own Giga Missile attack. The blast sent Piedmon flying into the gate. It closed, disappeared, and a strange golden dust began to fall around the mountain.

"The last remnants of Spiral Mountain are disappearing!" Izzy exlaimed. "The Dark Masters' control of the Digital World is finally gone." The last spiral finally disappeared.

Chirinmon flew back over to Haru and she went from leaning on Izzy and Joe to using Chirinmon to keep herself up. She was still exhausted, but she could feel her energy slowly growing again. She hugged her partner's neck. "It's finally over Chirinmon." She tightened her arms around him as she felt relief wash over her.

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><p><strong>And that concludes Chapter 15. Can you believe that it's been 15 chapters since I started this story? And there will probably only be 2-3 more chapters of Haru's first adventure in the Digital World. I know it's not over yet, but I want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with me over the last however long I've been writing. You've all been fantastic. I can't make any promises about when the next time I will update, but I'll try to make it as soon as possible. It takes me a bit to watch each episode and write everything down.<strong>

**But anyway... until next time~**

**Comment/Review/Favorite/Follow/PM me or whatever you feel like doing! If you want to leave and never come back, that's okay too.**

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**If you have questions, this will be the place to hit me up! My breaks usually consist of me going on there to cool off. You'll get answers faster :)**

**But anyway, thank you all!**

**~Ganzyyy**


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